Testimony: Voting Rights

The list below summarizes the highest priority League concerns. They are shared by a number of other nonpartisan groups as well. We include references to HB 3, as we assume actions on SB 1 will possibly include insertion of some, or all, of that bill.  

1. Poll Watchers -- Because SB 1 and HB 3 provide opportunities to disrupt the process, watchers should be required to take SOS poll watcher training and affirm that in an oath to uphold election laws similar to all other election workers.

2. Election Judges -- SB 1 and HB 3 would create numerous criminal and civil penalties that leave judges in fear for their personal liberty and property.

3. Exposing Personal Information -- SB 1 and HB 3 would allow members of the signature verification committee to take home any notes they keep in performing their duties -- including sensitive personal information.

4. Personal ID Number -- Unless amended, SB 1 and HB 3 would risk increasing ballot rejections for voters that do not remember which identification number they used when registering to vote.

5. Signature Verification -- SB 1 and HB 3 would expand the subjective pseudoscience of signature verification, and risk the franchise of voters due to age, medication or medical condition.

6. Cure Provisions -- The cure provisions of SB 1 and HB 3 would fall short of what is necessary to protect the franchise of seniors and voters with disabilities. [SB 1 comes to you with a provision to connect ballot application and ballot cures with the electronic ballot tracking process approved in the 87th regular session. We need additional refinements to make the cure process uniformly available in all 254 counties and the addition of a method to alert voters about problems requiring attention.]

7. Lost Ballot Provision -- SB 1 would force a voter to vote provisionally if that voter’s ballot is lost in the mail -- even if that voter properly canceled the mail-in ballot.

8. Voter Purges -- SB 1 would cancel voter registrations and expose voters to criminal investigation based on data that may predate the voter’s actual registration.

9. Vote “Harvesting” -- SB 1 would criminalize ordinary civic engagement activity such as the distribution of applications to vote by mail.

10. Voter Assistance -- SB 1 and HB 3 would criminalize legitimate voter assistance such as for those with language barriers and voters with disabilities.