The Independent View: Electionline Weekly Mar-7-2019

Legislative Update

Florida: Three Senators have filed SB 1386 that would require Standardized Ballot Design, create Guidelines on Notification Procedures for Rejected Ballots and set up Rules on the Cure Process for Ballots with Missing or Mismatched Signatures. The Bill was Approved by the Senate Ethics and Elections Committee and will head next to Senate President Bill Galvano (R-21st District) who has the Discretion to send it before the Full Chamber or other Committees.

Georgia: The Senate Ethics Committee, by a 7-5 vote, Approved a Bill that will Replace Georgia’s Aging Voting system with a $150 Million Electronic Voting system that features Ballot-Marking Devices.

Hawaii: Several Election-related Bills that would have Lowered the State’s Voting age to 16, would have moved the State to a Top-Two Primary, and would have Restored Voting Rights to Felons were Deferred and are therefore Dead for this Session.

Other Election Reform Bills that were Approved by the House and now move to the Senate include Automatic Recounts, All-Mail Elections, and Automatic Voter Registration.

Iowa: A Bipartisan Effort that would ensure Absentee Ballots that get Mailed in time are Counted in a Consistent Way is moving forward in the House. The Bill requires Counties to Pay for and Use the same Barcode System for Absentee Ballot Envelopes. The Bill would take effect in 2020.

The House Judiciary Committee has Approved a Bill that would Automatically Restore Voting Rights for Ex-Felons who have Completed the Terms of their Sentence. If Approved by the Legislature, it would go before the Voters in 2022.

Senate Study Bill 1241 would: Create a Uniform Polls Closing Time of 8pm; Prohibit State-owned Buildings other than County Courthouses from serving as Early Voting Sites; Change the Deadline for Absentee Ballots to be in the Office on Election Day, not just in the Mail; Require Election officials to Verify Signatures on Absentee Ballots; College Students would be given a Form that would ask whether they Plan to Live in or outside Iowa upon Graduation, and those who indicate they plan to live outside Iowa would be Removed from the Voter Registration List.

Kentucky: Senate Bill 34, which would have made the Secretary of State a Symbolic, Non-Voting Member of the State Board of Elections and Stripped the Secretary of any Day-to-Day Authority over its Staff has Failed in a House Committee after Two Republicans joined Democrats in Voting against it. However, Senate Majority Floor Leader Damon Thayer (R-25th District, Georgetown) attached an Amendment to another House Bill that would ultimately make Grimes, and All Future Secretaries of State, Nonvoting Member of the State Board of Elections.

House Bill 325, which has Cleared the House, would Prohibit Voters who Switch Parties on or after December 31st immediately Preceding a Primary Election from Voting in the upcoming Primary. New Voters who Register to Vote after December 31st must Stay Registered with the Same Party until the following Primary in Order to Vote in that Election.

Maine: By an 8-5 vote, the Veterans and Legal Affairs Committee has Rejected a Bill that would have Required Voters to show a Photo ID in order to Vote.

LD 186, would Prevent Noncitizens from Voting in any Election on any Level in the State.

Nebraska: Sen. Justin Wayne has introduced LB83 that would Eliminate the Two-year Waiting Period before Ex-Felons can Regain their Right to Vote.

Nevada: The Secretary of State’s Office has Sponsored Legislation that would Require Cities to Move their Municipal Elections from the Spring of Odd-Numbered years to the Fall of Even-Numbered years.

Senate Bill 123 would allow Nevadans to Register and Vote on Election Day and would Add Two days to the current Two-week Early Voting period.

New Mexico: House Bill 57, which would Automatically Restore the Voting Rights to formerly Incarcerated Residents when they are Released from Prison even if they Remain on Parole or Probation, was Approved by the House.

New York: The Senate has Approved a Bill that would Allow the Use of Electronic Poll Books. The Bill now Heads to the Assembly for Consideration.

Lawmakers have Approved a Bill that should make it Easier to Read Ballots. The Legislation includes Minimum Font-Size Requirements, Simplified Voting Instructions, New Visual Aids for less Literate Voters, and the Elimination of Superfluous Graphics.

North Dakota: House Bill 1059 would Allow for Part-Time Poll Workers as long as “at least one election inspector and two election judges” are the Polling Location.

South Carolina: By a 55-40 Vote a Bill that would have Required Voter Registrations, Applications. and Absentee Voting Requests, to be Submitted within 25 days of an Election. Current Law is 30 to 31 days before an Election. Although the Bill successfully Cleared the House, concerns Driven by the State’s GOP about Registration Fraud, Killed the Bill in the Senate.

Washington: By a 54-42 vote, the House Approved a Bill that will Move the State’s Presidential Preference Primary from May to the Second Tuesday in March. The Senate Approved the Bill in January. It now heads to Gove Jay Inslee’s Desk for his Signature.

The Senate has Approved a Bill that would make Prepaid Postage on Ballot Return Envelopes Permanent in Washington.

Wisconsin: In his Budget released last week, Gov. Tony Evers (D) is proposing Implementing Automatic Voter Registration. The Budget requires State Elections Officials' to Work with the Department of Transportation to Implement it as soon as possible. The Proposal would have to be Approved by the Legislature. Evers also ordered State Transportation Officials to come up with a Plan to Expand Hours the Motor Vehicle Offices so Residents would have time to get the Necessary IDs in order to Vote.

Legal Update

Kansas: A Citizen-Initiated Grand Jury that was Impaneled to Investigate Alleged Election-related Crimes by Former Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach’s Office has Adjourned without bringing an Indictment, according to a Court Document in the Case. After Reviewing the Citizen Petition, Exhibits, and Testimony of Witnesses, the Grand Jury found “no cognizable crime under the laws of the State of Kansas,” said the Document.

Kentucky: Franklin Circuit Court Judge Thomas Wingate Dismissed a Request from Secretary of State Allison Lundergan Grimes for a Declaratory Judgement that would make it clear is Legally Allowed to Search the State’s Voter Registration Database. “The Court finds that Secretary Grimes has failed to plead an actual case or controversy to invoke this court’s jurisdiction,” Wingate wrote

Court Action has been filed against Pike County Clerk Rhonda Taylor by Former Candidate Roger Ford for her Failure to Provide Public Documents about the Finances and Operations of the County Clerk’s Office.

New Hampshire: Spencer McKinnon, 21 has pleaded Guilty in Strafford County Superior Court on a Misdemeanor Charge of providing a False Statement on a Voter Registration Form. McKinnon Voted Twice in 2016, once in Massachusetts and once in New Hampshire. His Sentence of Six Months in a House of Corrections was Suspended on the Condition that he Complete 200 Hours of Community Service and Pay a $2,000 Fine. McKinnon also Lost the Right to Vote in New Hampshire.

New York: A Settlement has been Reached in a Lawsuit filed over the Accessibility of the Websites Run by the New York State Board of Elections and the Department of Motor Vehicles. Under the Settlement, both Websites will be Required to be Accessible to Blind Voters by the end of the year. The Lawsuit was originally filed in 2016.

North Carolina: Wake County Superior Court Judge Bryan Collins Denied the Request of Republican Legislative Leaders to Block his Order to Void a Constitutional Amendment that would have Required Voters to show a Photo ID while they Appeal the Ruling.

North Dakota: The Standing Rock Sioux has Signed on to a Lawsuit that the Spirit Lake Sioux filed just Days before Last November’s General Election, Challenging the State Requirement that a Voter ID include a Provable Street Address. Tribes allege that Disenfranchises Members who Live on High-Poverty Reservations where Street Addresses are Uncommon or Unknown and where Post Office Boxes are the Primary Addresses.

Texas: A Houston Woman who was Forced to turn a Firefighters T-Shirt inside out at the Polls and a Dallas-area Man who tried to Vote in his Trump MAGA Cap are Suing a Long List of Public Officials in Federal Court for Violating their Free Speech Rights. The Case was filed on Behalf of the Voters by the Pacific Legal Foundation which Successfully Argued against an Issue, Oriented Clothing Ban before the U.S. Supreme Court.