No. HB 1191
Filed under Elections.
Elections During Emergencies; Requires that elections, in event of emergency, be conducted in accordance with specified provisions & carried out in certain manner; authorizes supervisors of elections to request approval from Secretary of State to take specified actions under specified conditions; requires that supervisors submit all such requests at once, to extent practicable; authorizes submission of revised or additional requests; requires secretary to approve or deny requests within specified timeframe; requires secretary to consider specified factors; provides that requests are deemed approved under specified conditions; requires secretary to publish approvals & denials on DOS's website; etc.
Plain English Summary
AI-GENERATEDDuring a declared emergency, supervisors gain a two-track set of powers. Some changes -- moving or adding early-voting sites, waiving poll-worker training during a shortage, and sending mail ballots without a signed request -- need only notice to the state.
Other changes need the Secretary of State's written approval within 36 hours: day-before early voting, election-day voting at early-voting sites, extra ballot intake stations, and poll workers brought in from outside the county. An unanswered request is automatically approved.
The bill also widens what counts as an emergency to include harm to voters' access alone, and adds new duties: local contingency plans reviewed by the state every two years, recurring training, and a stocked or contracted reserve of backup voting equipment.
AIDuring a declared emergency, a supervisor may ask the Secretary of State to approve day-before early voting, election-day voting at early-voting sites, extra ballot intake stations, or out-of-county poll workers. The Secretary must decide within 36 hours, or the request is automatically approved.
AIIn an emergency, a supervisor may send a requested vote-by-mail ballot even if the request was never put in writing or the writing was unsigned, and may mail it to an address other than the one on file.
AIIf a supervisor decides a poll-worker shortage exists, the supervisor may appoint workers who have not completed the standard training, so long as each was trained at some point in the previous two years.
AIA supervisor may relocate an existing early-voting site, or add one in an area lacking coverage, simply by notifying the Secretary of State, without waiting for the state to approve the change first.
AIEvery supervisor must submit a local election emergency contingency plan to the state by May 1 of odd-numbered years. If the state finds a plan insufficient, the supervisor must submit a revised plan within 30 days.
AIThe state must maintain, or contract with vendors to supply, a reserve of ballot-marking devices, scanners, tabulators, and related equipment that can be deployed during an emergency or unexpected turnout, with an annual report to legislative leaders.
AIAn occurrence now counts as an 'emergency' triggering these powers if it impairs voters' ability to safely and accessibly cast a ballot, even if it does not impair an election officer's ability to run the election.