The Independent View: Legislative Updates March 24, 2016

Legislative Updates

Alaska: The Anchorage Assembly has approved legislation that will move the city to all vote-by-mail elections. Beginning in 2017, all municipal elections will be conducted by mail.

Connecticut: A Legislative committee passed a bill Monday to start moving toward Automatic Voter Registration at the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV), but delayed implementation of the measure until 2018. According to the Hartford Courant, Secretary of the State Denise Merrill supported the legislation, but some lawmakers questioned whether the DMV, which has dealt with long lines and numerous glitches after the installation of a new computer system last year, was ready to take on the task.

Guam: Guam’s Election Commission is supporting a bill that would allow 17-year-olds to vote in Primary elections as long as they are 18 by the time of the General election.

Illinois: Rep. Mark Batinick is pushing a proposal that would reduce the number of sites where voters could register and vote on the same day. While current law allows Same-Day Registration at all polling place, Batinick is proposing that it only be allowed at one polling site per township. Batinick told the Herald-News he envisions centralized locations with high-speed Internet, On-Demand Ballot printing capabilities and Election judges trained specifically to register voters.

Kentucky: The Senate has approved a bill that would put a Constitutional amendment before the voters on whether or not ex-felons should have their voting rights restored. The House had previously approved legislation that would automatically restore their rights.

Louisiana: The House has approved House Bill 529 that will give Deputy Parish custodians of voting machines a $25 raise per election. The Deputy Parish custodians are now paid $75 per election, and the pay hasn’t been raised in 20 years.

The Senate and Government Affairs Committee reported favorably on Senate Bill 164 which would allow people to vote-by-mail without an excuse.

Massachusetts: State lawmakers are considering legislation that would allow victims of domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking to shield their address from the public on voter rolls. The legislation is co-sponsored by Secretary of State William Galvin. “They shouldn’t have to give up the right to vote to be safe,” Galvin told The Boston Globe. “We’ve had many inquiries, especially this year as the presidential elections have been ramping up.”

Minnesota: The Legislature is contemplating several election-reform related pieces legislation including moving the State to a Presidential Primary system, lowering the voting age to 16, making changes to Absentee voting and legislation inspired by the state’s Elections Emergency Planning Task Force.

Missouri: According to MissouriNet, Democratic lawmakers are hoping that their GOP counterparts will compromise on Voter ID legislation.

Virginia: Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D) has vetoed legislation that would have required registrars to deny registration to certain people who leave out certain details on their voter registration forms. McAuliffe highlighted a part of the bill that would require the “automatic denial” of applicants who fail to check a box indicating that the applicant will be at least 18 years old before the next General election. “The checkbox is not material to determining whether the applicant meets the age requirements to register to vote, because the applicant is already required to provide his or her date of birth,” McAuliffe told the Richmond Times Dispatch.

West Virginia: Last week when the West Virginia Senate gave final approval to Voter ID legislation, the bill passed with an added amendment that would allow for Automatic Voter registration. "If managed properly, automatic registration is a great benefit to our citizens and will encourage more people to go to the polls," Senate President Bill Cole, R-Mercer told The Associated Press. The bill is now before Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin (D) who has not hinted one way or another whether he will sign it.