JUmp to: elections, Campaign finance & Government ethics; election methods; election security; census & redistricting

ELECTIONS, CAMPAIGN FINANCE & GOVERNMENT ETHICS

• HB 1375 Applying campaign contribution limits to candidates for all port districts. Currently the limits apply only to certain port districts, including those that have over 200,000 registered voters. Passed the House 98-0. Passed the Senate, 47-0. Signed by the Governor on April 23, 2019.
• HB 1379 Regarding disclosure of contribution from political committees to other political committees. Currently political advertising is required to show the top five donors that paid for the ad. Based on a loophole in the law, the top donors listed are sometimes other political action committees (PACs) with appealing but unrecognized names. This loophole can be used to hide the true donors behind the campaign ad. This bill would close that loophole by requiring that the top donors listed be the individuals, corporations or nonprofits that actually contributed. Passed the House 91-5. Passed the Senate 27-21. Signed by the Governor on May 7, 2019.  
• SB 5063 Providing prepaid postage for ballots. This would continue the practice used in the 2018 election of eliminating the need for a stamp on mailed ballots. Passed the Senate 42-3. Passed the House 83-10. Signed by the Governor on April 29, 2019. 
• SB 5079 Native American Voting Rights Act. Will enable mail-in ballots for those living on native lands but without a recognized street address. SB 5079 passed both the Senate and the House on a strong bipartisan vote. Signed by the Governor on March 14, 2019. 
• SB 5207 This bill would require that the Department of Corrections provide inmates with a felony conviction with information on how to restore their right to vote along with a voter registration form. Too often someone leaves the prison system believing that their right to vote has been taken away permanently. People in prison can be difficult to reach by outside agencies wishing to help with various aspects of re-entry and the DOC is in the best position to educate people under its jurisdiction about this important right. Passed the Senate, 37-12. Passed the House, 76-21, 1 excused. Passed both the Senate and House on a strong bi-partisan vote. Signed by the Governor on April 17, 2019.  

• HB 1067 Establishes a one-year “cooling off” period before high-level government officials, including elected officials can work as a lobbyist influencing state public policy.
• HB 1291 / SB 5073 Requiring the state to reimburse County auditors for the proportionate cost of elections involving state offices. This reimbursement is critical for stable election funding and will enable counties to expand efforts such as outreach and cybersecurity.  
• HB 1924 Allowing those with a felony conviction to have their right to vote restored while they are serving community custody (“parole”). This bill would have protected the right to vote for someone who has failed to pay their legal financial obligations (LFO’s). Having the right to vote be dependent on ability to pay LFOs presents an additional obstacle for persons with low income.
• SB 5076 This bill would have also allowed people who are serving a term of community custody to register to vote as long as they were following the conditions of their community custody. Currently, that right is not restored until they have completed this term. 
• SB 5224 Eliminating advisory votes. These are questions that appear on the ballot regarding state expenditures that have already passed. The results do not have any impact. They add significantly to the costs of elections and voters are not informed about them because reliable information is virtually impossible to find. Having votes that do not count for anything is inconsistent with League principles. 
• ESB 5294 Creating leave provisions for legislative service. This bill would require most employers to provide unpaid leave to workers while they are serving as a legislator. LWV strongly supports the concept of “citizen legislators.” Legislative service is considered part time, but the current system makes it difficult for many individuals who are not wealthy or self-employed to even consider running for office. 

• SJM 8002 Joint memorials encouraging Congress to call for a “limited” Constitutional Convention. The League opposes this because there is no way to guarantee that the convention would be limited to issues of free and fair elections. Congress has made no rules about constitutional conventions, so none of the criteria that the League of Women Votes of the United States’ position calls for could be guaranteed. Our call for a constitutional convention could be combined with other states' calls on different topics (balanced budget amendment, anti-choice amendment) in order to meet the threshold required. For more information see this excellent analysis of the threat by Common Cause. 

ELECTION SECURITY

• Improved cybersecurity measures to ensure our voting system can be defended against attacks.
• Publicly verifiable post-election audits and easy and timely access to audit results.
• Improved reconciliation reports including greater detail of ballot rejection rates.
• Improved tracking and procedures for chain of custody of voted ballots.
• Public access to election records including ballot images and cast vote records when voter privacy and ballot anonymity can be maintained.
• Retention of election records for longer periods of time, allowing for greater opportunity to detect and recover should an election be subject to error or interference. 

• HB 1545 Requiring election officials to maintain a daily record during ballot processing of when and how voters are contacted to cure a mismatched or missing signature on their ballot. Passed the House 91-7. Passed the Senate 41-7. Signed by the Governor on April 29, 2019. 

• HB 1251 Requiring the secretary of state to submit an annual report of any security breaches of the state’s electoral systems.
• HB 1819 Regarding election reconciliation reporting requirements. County auditors would be required to reconcile ballots issued, received, counted, and rejected by precinct.

• HB 1820 Extends the retention period for the storage of election material, requiring elections with non-federal contests and federal contests to retain materials for at least 24 months. Electronic records would need to be kept for at least 5 years. Increasing the retention period allows for detection and recovery should an error or interference occur during an election.

• HB 1821 Requiring standardized postelection audit reports. County auditors would need to include information such as the races audited, any discrepancies found, and the voting systems audited. Uniform reporting of audit results would allow for increased public confidence in election outcomes and election security statewide.

• HB 1822 Enhancing election data by improving statewide election data collection and reporting standards.
  

• HB 1823 Relating to the disclosure of electronic ballot images. Transparent elections are necessary for public trust and confidence in election outcomes. Allowing the public to inspect electronic ballot image files that are created when voted ballots are scanned during tabulation allows for greater public observation and participation in post-election audits.

• HB 2111 Concerning enhancing cybersecurity by eliminating the return of ballots by fax and email. This act addresses cybersecurity attacks and reduces vulnerability and the risk of election tampering. This is accomplished by eliminating email and fax submission of ballots.