Alaska Lt. Gov. Kevin Meyer and Gov. Mike Dunleavy today announced the Election Integrity Bill, intended to improve the way the Division of Elections maintains voter rolls while providing additional tools to ensure a more secure system.
“After the 2020 nationwide election, we saw that election integrity was a concern for many Americans,” said Meyer. “Alaskans deserve to feel confident that the election process is conducted fairly and with integrity. At the end of the day, The Election Integrity bill will help place trust back into the election process.”
In the Election Integrity Bill, there are changes to the Permanent Fund Dividend – Automatic Voter Registration process, giving the option to request voter registration. These changes will allow for more secure data to come from the Department of Revenue to the Division of Elections to clean up the voter lists.
The bill includes amendments and provisions that would require the Division of Elections to maintain the master voter file differently and issue a required report every other year to the legislature. There will also be increases in the transparency of the election process, an improved ballot-counting process, and a toll-free election offense hotline.
The bill will provide additional ways to verify that the person voting an absentee ballot is the voter whose name is on it, such as using signature verification equipment. There will be a more thorough definition of crimes around election fraud and election interference.
In addition, the bill sets up future training for police officers on election offenses, so if they are called upon to investigate these new crimes, they have the training to complete the investigation appropriately.
The proposed bill will make Alaska’s elections more secure and efficient while increasing confidence and integrity in election processes and results. The Election Integrity Bill will be introduced in the next few weeks.
“This Election Integrity Bill will ensure confidence with Alaskans and help rebuild trust in the election process,” Dunleavy said. “We are making the current system more secure through improvements. By consolidating ideas from past bills introduced in the Legislature and incorporating practices from other states, we hope to establish a more trustworthy elections system.”
Highlights from the proposed bill:
- The changes to the Permanent Fund Dividend – Automatic Voter Registration come after more than 5 years of experience with the process. PFD applicants will have to request voter registration. These changes will allow for more secure data to come from the Department of Revenue to the Division of Elections to clean up our voter lists.
- New statutory changes amend the list maintenance language statute to require the Division of Elections to review certain records, such as deceased voters, voters registered in other states, certain felony convictions, among others. The Division of Elections will be required to consult a subject-matter expert to audit the list of registered voters and issue a report every other year.
- Within the bill, there will be increases in the transparency of the election process for election observers and an improved ballot-counting process to ensure accuracy. The bill includes the creation of a toll-free election offense hotline for voters to use if they see questionable activity at the polls.
- The bill reinforces the belief that absentee ballot signatures should be witnessed and it pays the postage costs for the return envelopes. This legislation requires free online bill tracking to be set up. The bill will provide additional ways to verify that the person voting an absentee ballot is the voter whose name is on it, such as using signature verification equipment. Absentee voting integrity will be improved through the future acquisition of new signature verification equipment.
- The bill gives voters the option to request an absentee ballot for a 4-year window application, instead of a permanent absentee option.
- The bill provides voters the option to fix any minor errors to their ballot by establishing ballot curing. Ballot curing is a popular way for voters to fix any problems with an absentee or mail ballot to ensure their vote is counted.
- Working in conjunction with smaller communities and villages, this bill gives the Division of Elections the ability to mail ballots should it be required to give some Alaskans the chance to vote, even during a pandemic.
- The bill will require new regulations for routine forensic examinations and chain of custody protocols for tabulators to be created and followed. When questions arise, there will be tools set forth to ensure an accurate accounting of election results.
- The bill introduces a more thorough definition of crimes around election fraud and election interference that will provide clarity in the case of unlawful interference with voting.
- The bill also sets up future training for police officers on election offenses, so if they are called upon to investigate these new crimes, they have the training to complete the investigation appropriately.
The bill will be introduced early in the next legislative session.
We have an embarrassing voter-registration-to-eligible adult ratio. That must be fixed NOW. Additionally, there must be language that only allows the legislature to make changes to election rules. Not a local government, not the Supreme Court and not an elections division employee. Lastly, no mass mail in ballot mailings. Only by request. No form of ballot harvesting and no third party elections farm outs as happened in Atlanta. We should learn from WI, MI, AL, AZ and PA and not allow last minute changes ever again.
Absolutely, the measures you have stated and NO ELECTRONIC VOTING MACHINES THAT CONNECT TO THE INTERNET!
Funny how their proposal doesn’t mention Voting Machines. Why? What machines does Alaska use? If they have Dominion, Sytl or ESS on them, they need to go! They have already proven these machines can be wirelessly tapped into because they have a built in router. Votes are magically flipped by foreign and domestic hackers.
Oops, you said everything I said, just much more succinctly. We see things 100% the same way without watching the same news sources. I know this because I don’t depend on any single news source. So how could two people arrive to the same exact conclusions without being told how to? Hmmm. Might involve truth.
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I would add too, they need to give a clear legal path and defined jurisdictions for people who want to present evidence of election fraud and request audits.
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The fact that they are missing on some of the obvious things you pointed out, such as ballot harvesting, it makes me very suspicious that this is just a feigned attempt, or at best something they aren’t taking seriously enough.
I can’t wait to here senator Mike Showers response to this political Maneuver as Shower has been shut out of the discussion on voting roles along with many other Alaskans!
This ploy is an obvious tactic to c y a Dunleavys rear end.
Oh boy, is this proposed bill going to make all the wokesters and radical leftist extremists howl!
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Of course, it is pretty much all just about upholding common sense and honesty, two things which are however anathema to all wokesters and radical leftist extremists.
Jefferson: seems to me this is just more communist/ Marxist/ neomarxist/ leftist/tyrannical/socialist government overreach. Right?
As usual, Evan, you need to reexamine — and recognize — reality for what it is, not for what you would wish it to be.
See Davemaxwell’s response–the howling has started already.
Well now, that warms the cockles of my observer positive-there’s-cheating little heart!
More government and laws to imprison the uneducated. Just what we need!!!
Looks good, too bad it won’t make it out of a single committee.
Voter rolls are still outdated. People getting ballots mailed to them for the folks the bought their house from 3 years ago.
How about requiring absentee ballots and any form of mail in ballots to be requested and counted before election day for every election? Or at least an earlier deadline for the postmark so it is easy to check when someone arrives at the polls if they have already voted or not. I actually would like to see absentee ballots to be allowed for rural addresses, but a total ban on mail in elections throughout the state. And yes, I want to see a total audit NOW of the dominion systems we use and structured security and transparency requirements for testing and approving the machines before, during, and after every single election. There is zero reason for the machines to have any network capability while counting and tallying votes. They should be offline while counting with security logs and image backups acquired continuously before and after they are put back online for any reason, which should be only after their totals have been recorded. Audits should be easily done of the machines at any given time and the back of the state of the machines should be preserved for at least 7 years. And a signature verification system? No. How about just an id number. A signature verification system will just be tedious to the point workers start ignoring flags, in my opinion. Last, but definitely not least, ban ballot harvesting.
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Really, what I care about most is restoring trust in the electronic system with extensive independent routine security audits with clear requirements, no matter who the manufacturer is. I’m not confident this bill does that.
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But also I do care about:
* Chain of custody (hopefully this bill addresses that)
* Out of state and dead people voting capabilities because our entire registry is accessible online
* Cleaning up the registry. It’s awful.
* And ballot harvesting. Ballot harvesting, even when done according to “the spirit of the law”, is a shady practice and dilutes votes from people that are paying attention and caring enough to make the smallest of efforts. That’s at best. At worst, it’s reconnaissance for conducting nearly impossible to catch election fraud. Just ask Stacy Abrams.
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This bill is not bad news, but I’m not satisfied until I see a clear presentation that clears up my concerns beyond bullet point summaries. Also they really need to ban ballot harvesting which is entirely missed. And Barbare Jones needs to be given a banker box so she can clean out her desk ASAP (I guess that’s not up to the Governor though) I also need to see a bill actually pass, despite any dumb outcries from people that think the healthiest form of democracy involves people staying ignorant and apathetic about what happens to their country but still getting just as much of a say so they can be used and abused and seduced by the elitists. The uneducated are imprisoned by being uneducated. Making voting as effortless and as thoughtless as possible only expedites the building of their chains.
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I am just not overly excited yet and with the responses I have had from the Lt Gov staff, and this not exactly hitting the nail on the head, I don’t have much faith that they either know what they are doing or care to be in reality effective and just want to show that they are taking a swing at it so the audience doesn’t accuse them of being one of the players throwing the game.
Well said!
How about mandatory sentencing guidelines for those caught engaging in election fraud? Felony conviction on their record with no chance of expunging it and one year in prison with no chance of parole. Watch how fast the problem goes away!
Some actual consequences, what a novel idea!
Anyone convicted of election fraud must lose the right to vote for twenty years, minimum, and for life if involved with others in election fraud.
Maybe Glenn Fosterman would like to clarify his comments
Do we really need a bill ( which will probably never happen) to do an audit on the voter registration? I am sorry to believe that this is all just a political maneuver to quiet the conservative crowd. It would be an embarrassment for our entire government if it were exposed just how many ballots are being mailed out to people who no longer exist in our state. Or PFD’s for that matter. And how many people hold an Alaska driver license and don’t reside here. Our population has been shrinking, yet our registered voter population is still growing. A simple way to start would be to stop mailing ballots to out of state addresses. And then have the Post Office quit putting ballots in PO Boxes addressed to anyone other than the current box holder. Then, at least, the trash cans wouldn’t be full of ballots that anyone can grab. It would require a small effort from people who may not have a strong work ethic but it is still easier than trying to pass a bill with a dysfunctional government. If we really wanted to clean it up, then mail the ballots by registered mail, ID and signature required. This would be money well spent. And would kill two birds with one stone.
There you go Governor!
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