House State Affairs hears expert testimony on vote-by-mail procedures
JUNEAU β The House State Affairs Committee held a hearing earlier this week on vote-by-mail elections in response to a provision included in Senate Bill 241 β an Alaska COVID-19 Emergency Relief Bill β that allows the lieutenant governor to conduct elections by mail during the pandemic.
The committee heard testimony from experts from around the country about how governments are using vote-by-mail to enable safe participation in the democratic process.
βAs we’ve seen from Oregon, Utah, Colorado, and elsewhere, voting by mail makes voting easier. More people vote. That’s a good thing. And common sense makes clear that voting at home massively reduces unnecessary public health risk relating to COVID,β State Affairs Co-Chair Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins (D-Sitka) said after the hearing.
State Affairs Co-Chair Zack Fields (D-Anchorage) added, βThe testimony we heard proved that proactively sending absentee ballot requests to voters would help ensure we maintain ballot access even during a pandemic.β
The committee heard from three experts:
β’ Amber McReynolds, Executive Director of the National Vote at Home Institute, who detailed safeguards vote-by-mail states use to verify ballot signatures and protect the integrity of elections.
β’ Wendy Underhill, Director of Elections and Redistricting at National Conference of State Legislatures, who discussed measures other states are taking to adapt election systems for the COVID-19 pandemic. She noted that some states are transitioning to vote-by-mail systems for their entire primary and general election.
β’ Barbara Jones, Municipal Clerk at the Municipality of Anchorage, who talked about the municipality’s new vote-by-mail system. She commented on the rarity of voter fraud and how Anchorage’s vote-by-mail system could help support a statewide vote-by-mail election.
The Office of the Lieutenant Governor and Division of Elections were invited to testify but declined to appear before the committee.
Representative Kreiss-Tomkins put on record a study by Stanford University which determined that vote-by-mail increases voter turnout but does not increase either political party’s share of votes. The committee also reviewed a committee substitute for HB 150, Rep. Kreiss-Tomkins vote-by-mail bill, which can be viewed here.
The full hearing can be viewed here on Gavel Alaska.
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CONTACT
Kevin McGowan
Office of Representative Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins
Alaska House Majority
(907) 465-3306
Kevin.McGowan@akleg.gov