Alaska Senate committee proposes same-day voter registration, but key Republicans oppose the idea

A state Senate committee on Thursday voted to advance a bill that would allow same-day voter registration in the state, despite the objections of the bill’s original author, who opposes the idea.

House Bill 129 was originally written by Rep. Sarah Vance, R-Homer, to allow the state to trim its voter rolls more quickly. The state has 108% of its 20-and-older population registered to vote, and House lawmakers supported the bill on a bipartisan vote in February.

On Thursday, the Senate State Affairs Committee turned the bill into a comprehensive elections overhaul with a major amendment that incorporates elements of other bills:

• Voters would be allowed to register for an election within 30 days of Election Day, something currently allowed only for presidential votes.

• The Division of Elections would have to create a method for voters to fix errors on absentee ballots that have already been mailed.

• Absentee ballots would no longer require the signature of someone who witnesses the voter fill out the ballot.

• Ballots filled out by voters with special needs couldn’t be rejected because of errors by poll workers or the person delivering the ballot to the polls.

• If someone uses AI computer software to fake a candidate’s appearance in an election ad, the fake would have to include a legal disclaimer.

• A candidate would be able to transfer leftover campaign donations to a legal fund for election-related lawsuits.

• The Division of Elections would have to develop a cybersecurity program and develop procedures for audits intended to reduce risks.

Sen. Scott Kawasaki, D-Fairbanks and the chair of the State Affairs Committee, had planned a separate, multipart elections bill, but that bill hasn’t advanced in the Senate.

Vance said she would have preferred Kawasaki put his ideas into his own bill, rather than trying to hitch a ride on hers.

After the new version was unveiled Thursday, Vance told the State Affairs Committee, “What I am seeing here in front of me is same-day registration amidst a whole variety of other measures that I do not support.”

Kawasaki replied that all of the elements added to the bill are things that have been considered, at least once before, by a legislative committee, the state House, or the state Senate.

In 2022, a comprehensive elections bill died on the last day of the legislative session despite extensive bipartisan negotiations.

Several of the items in this year’s bill are carryovers from that bill, Kawasaki said. Others didn’t make the cut, he said, because he wanted to lower the cost of the bill.

For example, he dropped a program to verify voters’ signatures on absentee ballots because it would have required the state to buy new equipment and software.

Also absent is a plan to offer prepaid envelopes for absentee voters, allowing them to send their ballots to the state without buying a stamp.

“I just want to say that this is still a work in progress,” Kawasaki said. “We have a dozen days left; this bill will be on to the (Senate) Finance Committee.”

Speaking the day after her initial comments, Vance said she still opposes the changes. HB 129 passed with bipartisan support, she said, and she doesn’t believe the ideas added to the bill have bipartisan support.

Sen. Mike Shower, R-Wasilla, participated in the failed 2022 effort and several failed attempts to change elections laws before that.

He said he opposes the changes, and he will urge the House to reject them if the Senate passes the revised bill.

If the House passes it anyway, he said, he intends to ask Gov. Mike Dunleavy to veto it.

Originally published by the Alaska Beacon, an independent, nonpartisan news organization that covers Alaska state government.