House State Affairs Passes HB 115 - Permanent Absentee Voting

I put up the Sponsor's Statement for this bill last night.  Basically this bill would allow people to sign up for permanent absentee voting without having to fill out the paperwork every election.  Eight states already do this including Oregon which began this 30 years ago according the the testimony of Rep. Buch and the Director of the Division of Elections Gail Fenumiai.  



The main questions were about security.  How would the division of elections know if someone died?  What would prevent the spouse or other relatives from using the absentee ballots to vote twice?  What happens if someone moves?   

The response boiled down to:

a.   To vote, you have to sign the envelope and have a witness.  Doing this falsely is a felony.  
b.   This hasn't been a problem other places.

A caller from Colorado who is in the division of elections there and had been in Oregon said this wasn't an issue.  He also said that about 70 percent of the people (in his district?  in Colorado?  not sure, my notes on this seem to have vanished when I shut down my computer) now vote absentee.  

So, this bill now moves on to the next committee.  Finance I believe. 


Rep. Buch and the Director of the Division of Elections Gail Fenumiai talk to Rep. Seaton after the meeting was adjourned.