Latest news with #HB2400
Yahoo
27-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
House Judiciary moves bill concerning absentee ballot applications, deadlines
Feb. 26—dbeard @ MORGANTOWN — A House bill to limit distribution of absentee ballot applications was paired on Wednesday with another House bill to move up the deadline for counties to receive absentee ballots. The new two-part bill received some bipartisan opposition in the Judiciary Committee but was approved and heads to the House floor. HB 2117 began as a bill to just move up the deadline. But HB 2400, which will be on second reading on the floor on Thursday, affects the same code section, so it was decided to merge them in 2117. The current deadline for county clerks to receive absentee ballots is the day after election day. They must be postmarked no later than election day and must be received no later than the hour canvassing is commenced. The bill moves the deadline to 7:30 p.m. election day, when polls close. The provisions patched in from HB 2400 say, "It is unlawful for any person, including any election official, to mail or deliver an application for an absentee ballot to any voter except when specifically requested by the voter ; a member of the voter's immediate family ; or a caregiver of the voter. It sets out criminal penalties for election officials who deliver unsolicited applications and for non-officials who deliver more than 10 applications. Delegate Evan Hansen, D-Monongalia, opposed HB 2400 on Monday when the committee advanced it to the floor, and opposed this one on Wednesday. "This is now an omnibus voter suppression bill, " he said. Legal absentee ballots that arrive after the new deadline won't be counted. There was no testimony from county clerks that the existing deadline has delayed canvassing or created any uncertainty, he said. "There's no problem here." And he repeated his earlier arguments about HB 2400, that it will prevent distribution of applications to nursing home residents. "I don't know of any other government document that's illegal to reproduce and distribute. ... This bill will result in fewer people voting, and of those people who do vote, fewer of those votes being counted." Delegate Keith Marple, R-Harrison, also opposed it, noting that clerks and the secretary of state's office haven't supported it. Currently, clerks count all votes received by canvassing and this bill cuts that time period. It doesn't prohibit voting but does prohibit votes from being counted. Delegate Josh Holstein, R-Boone and a co-sponsor of HB 2400, said neither bill prohibits use of absentee ballots for nursing home residents and doesn't stop anyone from asking if someone wants an application. Holstein said 31 states have election-day deadlines for receipt of absentee ballots, including deep-blue states Vermont, Connecticut, Hawaii and Delaware. "This isn't some kind of fringe idea, " he said. "This is pretty standard." The committee approved and advanced the bill in a divided voice vote.
Yahoo
25-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
House committees take up absentee ballot, ranked choice voting bills
Feb. 24—dbeard @ MORGANTOWN — The House of Delegates is trying once again to prevent potential abuse of absentee ballots by making it illegal to distribute more than 10 applications for absentee ballots with a specific request by a voter or voters. And a bill to prohibit ranked choice voting began its committee journey on Monday. This year's attempt is HB 2400, approved in a divided voice vote on Monday morning by the Judiciary Committee and sent to the House floor. The revised version the committee approved wasn't available to view on Monday afternoon, but the committee attorney said it reflected the 2022 version, which was HB 4293, that passed out of the House and died in the Senate. HB 4293 said that any election official who knowingly and intentionally mailed or delivered an application for an absentee ballot to any voter without the specific request of that voter would face a misdemeanor charge, subject to fine and jail time upon conviction. It also said that any person who is not an election official knowingly and intentionally mailed or delivered more than 10 applications for an absentee ballot to a group of voters without the specific request of those voters would also face a misdemeanor charge, subject to fine and jail time upon conviction. HB 2400 adds that applications shall be available in either physical form at the clerk's office or online. Delegate Evan Hansen, D-Monongalia, has regularly opposed the bills and said again that absentee ballot applications are government forms freely available online, No other government form carries a criminal penalty for distribution. "It's ridiculous " to criminalize distribution of this form. County clerks have a process to determine the validity of an application, he said, and the Preston County Clerk has expressed reservations about the bill. "We should put a little faith and trust in our county clerks." Hansen also noted that this could hamper voting for nursing home residents, who rely on staff to bring them applications for absentee ballots. Likewise for people with disabilities, and those who tend not to vote because of transportation, job or family issues. Delegate Shawn Fluharty, D-Ohio, said the bill could also criminalize neighbors who help neighbors by bringing them ballot applications. Secretary of State General Counsel David Cook, in answer to some questions, said the bill doesn't pose legal problems in terms of federal regulations for nursing home residents. The committee advanced the bill over the nay votes of the two Democrats. Ranked choice voting Judiciary's Legal Services Subcommittee took a first look at HB 2683, to prohibit ranked choice voting. It gives a ling definition: "Ranked choice voting is defined as a method for casting and tabulating votes in which voters rank candidates for an office in order of preference, and then tabulation occurs in rounds, with each round dropping the candidate with the least support and then reallocating the first-place votes from the eliminated candidate to the second choice candidates." The bill makes this illegal for any local state or federal election, and any such election conducted in this manner would be invalid. It does not apply to internal party processes. Lead sponsor Rick Hillenbrand, R-Hampshire, said the bill is an effort to assure clarity, where ranked choice voting brings complexity and confusion. "RCV methods are anything but transparent and simple to understand and they're confusing as heck." National Public Radio cites figures from the advocacy group FairVote that indicate as of December 2024, 51 American jurisdictions have RCV in place for all voters in public elections. This includes two states, three counties, and 46 cities. Ballotpedia gives a different figure, saying RCV is used statewide in Alaska, Hawaii and Maine. It says RCV is prohibited in Idaho, Montana, South Dakota, Oklahoma, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida. Under the House committee process, Monday's discussion was the initial hearing of the bill. At the next subcommittee meeting, the bill can be marked up, debated and voted to advance to the full committee.
Yahoo
25-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
House committees take up absentee ballot, ranked choice voting bills
Feb. 24—dbeard @ MORGANTOWN — The House of Delegates is trying once again to prevent potential abuse of absentee ballots by making it illegal to distribute more than 10 applications for absentee ballots with a specific request by a voter or voters. And a bill to prohibit ranked choice voting began its committee journey on Monday. This year's attempt is HB 2400, approved in a divided voice vote on Monday morning by the Judiciary Committee and sent to the House floor. The revised version the committee approved wasn't available to view on Monday afternoon, but the committee attorney said it reflected the 2022 version, which was HB 4293, that passed out of the House and died in the Senate. HB 4293 said that any election official who knowingly and intentionally mailed or delivered an application for an absentee ballot to any voter without the specific request of that voter would face a misdemeanor charge, subject to fine and jail time upon conviction. It also said that any person who is not an election official knowingly and intentionally mailed or delivered more than 10 applications for an absentee ballot to a group of voters without the specific request of those voters would also face a misdemeanor charge, subject to fine and jail time upon conviction. HB 2400 adds that applications shall be available in either physical form at the clerk's office or online. Delegate Evan Hansen, D-Monongalia, has regularly opposed the bills and said again that absentee ballot applications are government forms freely available online, No other government form carries a criminal penalty for distribution. "It's ridiculous " to criminalize distribution of this form. County clerks have a process to determine the validity of an application, he said, and the Preston County Clerk has expressed reservations about the bill. "We should put a little faith and trust in our county clerks." Hansen also noted that this could hamper voting for nursing home residents, who rely on staff to bring them applications for absentee ballots. Likewise for people with disabilities, and those who tend not to vote because of transportation, job or family issues. Delegate Shawn Fluharty, D-Ohio, said the bill could also criminalize neighbors who help neighbors by bringing them ballot applications. Secretary of State General Counsel David Cook, in answer to some questions, said the bill doesn't pose legal problems in terms of federal regulations for nursing home residents. The committee advanced the bill over the nay votes of the two Democrats. Ranked choice voting Judiciary's Legal Services Subcommittee took a first look at HB 2683, to prohibit ranked choice voting. It gives a ling definition: "Ranked choice voting is defined as a method for casting and tabulating votes in which voters rank candidates for an office in order of preference, and then tabulation occurs in rounds, with each round dropping the candidate with the least support and then reallocating the first-place votes from the eliminated candidate to the second choice candidates." The bill makes this illegal for any local state or federal election, and any such election conducted in this manner would be invalid. It does not apply to internal party processes. Lead sponsor Rick Hillenbrand, R-Hampshire, said the bill is an effort to assure clarity, where ranked choice voting brings complexity and confusion. "RCV methods are anything but transparent and simple to understand and they're confusing as heck." National Public Radio cites figures from the advocacy group FairVote that indicate as of December 2024, 51 American jurisdictions have RCV in place for all voters in public elections. This includes two states, three counties, and 46 cities. Ballotpedia gives a different figure, saying RCV is used statewide in Alaska, Hawaii and Maine. It says RCV is prohibited in Idaho, Montana, South Dakota, Oklahoma, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida. Under the House committee process, Monday's discussion was the initial hearing of the bill. At the next subcommittee meeting, the bill can be marked up, debated and voted to advance to the full committee.
