Keeping in touch

One of the bills you’ve seen discussed on television news lately is a bill I am carrying on behalf of the Secretary of State’s office, a bill which has long been an important bill to the Election Administrators of Montana, House Bill 130.  HB 130 is an “Act revising procedures for conducting mail ballot elections; requiring elections other than school elections to be held by mail; provides for training of Election Administrators and Election Judges; revises procedures by which Election Administrators confirm Electors residence and mailing addresses; revises procedures for reactivating an Electors registration; revises certain absentee ballot provisions; requires counties to pay for ballots returned with insufficient postage; revises procedures for creating and approving a written election plan; provides for notice to inactive electors; provides  requirements for voting booths; provides requirements for places of deposit and official drop boxes for ballot returns: revises procedures for handling and counting returned ballots; and, repeals the requirement that Election Administrators provide for proportional voting in certain elections (13-19-302 MCA regarding votes to be cast in proportion to ownership or other factor other than one vote per person).  

Back in 1985, the Montana Legislature approved limited use of mail ballot elections as a way of boosting turnout and reducing the costs for small elections.  In 1987, the law was modified to permit schools to conduct mail ballot elections but limitations remained which restricted state and federal primary and general elections from being conducted by mail.  Since 1987, there have been a multitude of changes to election laws.  Public awareness has led to the current effort by the legislature to do all elections my mail.

In the later part of the 1990’s, the federal government enacted the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA).  NVRA made sweeping changes to election laws.  It created active and inactive voter listings and instituted less stringent voter registration requirements in order to encourage voter registration and voter participation.

Following the 2000 Presidential election and the challenges and problems which arose as a result of the election activities in Florida, sweeping changes came about as a result of another federal law known as the Help America Vote Act (HAVA).  HAVA brought about national uniform standards for voting machines, including the procedures for use of those machines in elections.  In order for the State of Montana to comply with the NVRA and HAVA laws, many rules and procedures were adopted and then implemented by the County Election Administrators.

In addition to the changes made in order to comply with federal election laws, two major changes were implemented by the State Legislature which again changed the face of voting in Montana.  Those changes were the no-excuse voting in 1999 and the permanent absentee voting and same day registration in 2005.  Each of these steps required time, oversight and processing which was dedicated totally to poll site elections.

With all of the sweeping changes over the previous 14 years, the costs of running elections to comply with state and federal laws, to implement new technologies, to address the needs of a more mobile society and address the absentee voting rights of our Armed Service members who participate in global military conflicts, have skyrocketed.   Addressing those requirements as well as the need to provide those who are responsible for maintaining the integrity of the election process the tools they need, brings us to House Bill 130, the mail ballot bill.

Voting by mail and mail ballot elections have become popular with our electors for several reasons.  There is the ease of voting, especially for those who are elderly or those with child care needs as those citizens like the convenience of voting in their own home with time to examine complicated ballot issues.  There is increased voter turnout as well as a reduced need for large numbers of poll workers plus the potential to reduce expenses or at least maintain reasonable costs.  

Clerk and Recorders and Election Administrators who have been charged with the duties of implementing the mandates set by the state and federal governments will benefit from mail ballot elections because they will be able to address the complexity of today’s election process, helping to ensure accuracy, fairness and efficiency.

Mail ballots are not a new idea.  Many of you may have voted already by mail if you have ever voted an absentee ballot.  In addition, consideration for going to an all mail ballot elections is not a new idea as there have been several attempts in the last few sessions to accomplish such a task. While wanting to increase voter turnout and protect the integrity of the process should be a bipartisan quest, it has not always been that way.  While there were a few exceptions to the rule, in 2007 the idea was supported by Democrats and not by Republicans.  In 2009, it was supported by Republicans and not by Democrats.  Now in 2011, with the Montana Republican Party Platform supporting mail ballot elections for all elections and with the Secretary of State’s commitment to this HB 130’s success, I believe this will not only be a bipartisan bill, but the people of Montana’s bill.

HB 130 resulted from the Secretary of State’s willingness to give going to all mail ballots a thorough review.  Secretary McCulloch and staff visited with election officials, advocacy groups and political party representatives in Oregon to discuss their states successful Vote-By-Mail process while representatives from the Montana Clerk and Recorders Association visited with election administrators in both Washington and Oregon.  A collaborative working group, brought together by the Secretary of State, worked on the mail ballot issue to address concerns of the participants.  That collaboration led to many procedural changes found in HB 130 such as official drop boxes, changes to active and inactive voter registration lists, signature verification procedures, written plans for conducting elections and a public hearing process to name a just a few.

House Bill 130 will be heard in the State Administration and Veteran’s Affairs Committee on January 19th at 8:00 a.m. in room 455.  If you are interested in being able to track this legislative bill and its committee meeting, you can do so by going to the Montana Legislative Website at:  http://www.leg.mt.gov.

While I know change can be difficult and concerns do arise, please visit with your Clerk and Recorder, Jennine Robbins or the other Election Administrators and Clerks throughout the State to understand how the election process works under their oversight and to hear their concerns and their need for this valuable tool.  Understanding the needs and the process can help ease the difficulty of change.

A couple of other election-related bills you might find interesting and worth commenting on are: HB 88 - Allow Youth Election Judges and HB - 152 Revising proof of residency and identity requirements for voting.

I can be reached during the session by leaving a message for me at (406) 444-4800, by e-mailing me at pathd13@blackfoot.net, or you may mail your comments to me at Representative Pat Ingraham, Capitol Building, P. O. Box 200400, Helena, MT 59620-0400.