HOUSE BILL NO. 266 "An Act relating to elections, questioned ballots and questioned voters, voter registration, training of election officials, preparation of election materials, voter identification, absentee voting, counting ballots, and the primary election; and providing for an effective date." Co-Chair Harris MOVED to ADOPT Committee Substitute (FIN) Work Draft 23-GH1133\S, 4/29/03. There being NO OBJECTION, the Work Draft was ADOPTED. LAURA GLAISER, DIRECTOR, DIVISION OF ELECTIONS provided information about the changes contained in the Committee Substitute. She explained that the intent of the bill was to address compliance with the Help American Vote Act (HAVA), signed into law in October of 2002. The law was a result of a bi-partisan effort in Congress intended to improve overall administration of elections, increase accessibility to voters with disabilities and reduce voter fraud. She continued to read from the Sponsor Statement as follows: Many changes required under HAVA do not require amending Alaska statute, but HB 266 includes those necessary to meet federal mandates. Changes recommended in the bill before you follow the intent of the federal law and do not place unnecessary burdens on the voter. It is imperative that these changes mandated by federal law are passed by the Legislature this year. HB 266 also includes changes the Division recommends. The Division supports the language recommended in Senator Lincoln's SB 24, and it had been included in this bill with her permission. Other changes regarding returning identification/voter cards to other jurisdictions, reference to a "master list", and adding types of information that can be provided by the voter when registering in person are requested by the Division in this bill. Ms. Glaiser stated that, although not mandated to do so by federal law, the Division had recommended grouping "undeclared" and "non-partisan" voters into one group called "unaffiliated voters". She stated that the current Committee Substitute (Version S) had removed those sections. She also noted that in the original version, the phrase "question ballot" had been changed to "provisional ballot". House State Affairs had recommended reverting back to the term "question ballot". In addition, federal law asks the Division to provide a free access system, whether a web site or toll free number, by which a voter may check to see if their question ballot had been counted. Currently the practice is to send a letter to those voters, and Representative Gruenberg requested that the letter be included along with the free access system. She stated that both methods are included in the Committee Substitute. Representative Croft asked why combining "non-partisan" and "undeclared" into "nonaffiliated" was not included in the bill. Ms. Glaiser responded that it was a policy recommendation, but there was no federal mandate. She referred to the Sectional Analysis of the bill that indicated which measures were housekeeping and which responded to federal compliance. Representative Croft asked about the language contained in Section 17 of Representative Lincoln's bill (SB 24). Ms. Glaiser responded that SB 24, as well as the current bill, requested that special absentee ballots be sent to individuals who, at the time of the election, were living in a remote area of the state where distance, terrain or other natural conditions denied the voter reasonable access to a poling place. Vice-Chair Meyer asked what must be done to have local elections coincide with statewide elections. Ms. Glaiser noted that a statutory change would be required. Representative Whitaker asked for clarification regarding a resolution from the League of Women Voters and asked what relevance it had to the bill. Ms. Glaiser responded that this resolution bore no relevance to this bill, as it relates to APOC. Representative Foster MOVED to report Committee Substitute HB266 (FIN) out of Committee with the accompanying fiscal note. There being NO OBJECTION it was so ordered. CSHB 266 (FIN) was REPORTED out of Committee with a "do pass" recommendation and two zero fiscal notes: #1 from the Office of the Governor and #2 from the Department of Administration.