Election Bills

SSB 3117, SSB 3184, and SSB 3185 were voted out of Senate State Government committee this week. SSB 3117 strikes the authority of the county auditor to appoint a double election board. The bill also requires the use of automatic tabulating machines if the auditor receives a petition from 100 voters. The petition must be received at least 42 days before the election and is effective upon enactment. 

SSB 3184 is the technical election bill while SSB 3185 makes some more substantive changes. SSB 3185 specifies that the requirement that election precincts be contiguous, in a single county, and follow census tracts takes precedence over the requirement that townships of more than 2,000 people should be divided into precincts of reasonably equal populations. Cities are allowed to revise precinct boundaries when the Census Bureau certifies population changes.  This bill also directs county election commissioners to give preference to persons willing to serve without pay on election boards for non-partisan elections and allows a city council to tell the election commissioner of persons willing to serve on an election board without pay. It allows for the substitution of precinct chairs on Election Day, including appointing someone from another political party if the party balance stays within statutory limits and adds observers to double counting election boards. There are also changes to procedures for how a person who requests an absentee ballot can vote on Election Day. A registered voter who requested an absentee ballot but for some reason did not receive it or did not bring the ballot to the polling place will be allowed to vote in person at the polls if the precinct official is able to confirm that the commissioner of elections did not receive the voter’s absentee ballot. If the precinct official is unable to confirm, the voter will be allowed to cast a provisional ballot. Senator Sodders (D, Marshall) will be the floor manager for all three bills.

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