Senate Bill 64 continued to be heard by the House Finance Committee, with Democrats pushing the bill to allow more fraud, and Republicans pushing back.
Hours of phone testimony came from the public on Thursday, most of it against the bill that does things like eliminate the witness signature requirement on absentee ballots, establish “drop boxes” for ballots (Anchorage style), and having the state pay for the postage stamp for those mailing in ballots.
Rep. Nellie Jimmie, a Democrat, played the race card repeatedly and said that people in rural Alaska are disenfranchised, although what she was really saying was that they cannot figure out how to perform their civic duty of voting. Jimmie read her questions and statements that were being provided to her from someone outside the committee — presumably the bill sponsors in the Senate.
The Democrats want, among other things:
- Removing witness signature requirement on absentee ballots
- Ballot drop boxes everywhere
- Special needs ballot changes — no limit on ballot harvesting
- Hiring of rural liaisons to help rural voters, who are somehow seen as too simple-minded to vote
- Permanent absentee voting — once you register to vote absentee, you can get a ballot in perpetuity
- Ballot curing, which may delay results for weeks
- Use of electronic signatures on voter registration documents
- Pre-paid postage on all mail-in ballots
Very little attention is being paid to cleaning up voter rolls.
The bill is being supported by the Alaska Federation of Natives and Outside Democrat groups, as well as Democrats in the House and Senate. AFN says there are too many barriers to voting and that people in rural Alaska need “rural liaisons.”
SB 64 is being fast-tracked through the House because Democrats want to roll out these and other changes before the 2026 election. More details on the bill are found here:
