NOTE:  As provided in LFC policy, this report is intended only for use by the standing finance committees of the legislature.  The Legislative Finance Committee does not assume responsibility for the accuracy of the information in this report when used for other purposes.

 

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F I S C A L   I M P A C T   R E P O R T

 

 

 

SPONSOR:

Thompson

 

DATE TYPED:

1/24/03

 

HB

17

 

SHORT TITLE:

Voter ID by Signature Verification

 

SB

 

 

 

ANALYST:

Collard

 

APPROPRIATION

 

Appropriation Contained

Estimated Additional Impact

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY03

FY04

FY03

FY04

 

 

 

$250.0

 

 

Non-Recurring

General Fund

 

 

 

 

 

 

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

 

SOURCES OF INFORMATION    

 

LFC Files

 

Responses Received From

Secretary of State

 

SUMMARY

 

     Synopsis of Bill

 

House Bill 17 appropriates $250.0 from the general fund to the Secretary of State for the purpose of purchasing digital facsimile printers.  If the actual signature is significantly different from the facsimile signature, a member of the precinct board or, during early voting, an officer of the county clerk’s office will use alternative identification, such as:

·       New Mexico voter registration card;

·       Social Security card

·       Valid New Mexico driver’s license;

·       Any other identification card issued by an agency of the state, one of its political subdivisions, or the United States; or

·       Any valid employee identification card containing a photograph of the voter and issued by an employer in the ordinary course of the employer’s business.

 

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

 

The appropriation of $250.0 contained in this bill is a non-recurring expense to the general fund. Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of FY04 shall revert to the general fund. 

 

ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS

 

The Secretary of State indicates there is an impact on the agency information systems and Bureau of Elections to monitor all installation and compliance.  There is also a substantial impact on counties for scanning of existing certificates of registration; for example, there are approximately 300,000 in Bernalillo County alone.

 

TECHNICAL ISSUES

 

The Secretary of State indicates that a bill should require signature identification voters to vote on a provisional ballot after signing affidavit.  If signature identification voters are allowed to vote on a machine based on signature alone, and it turns out that the voter is not who they said they were, there is no way to determine which vote was that person’s to remove it from the voting machine.  If signature identification voters are required to vote on a provisional ballot, the ballot could then be removed by hand.  The Secretary of State recommends an amendment to the bill on page three, lines four through eight to read, “Require voter to vote on provisional ballot, rather than machine.” 

 

POSSIBLE QUESTIONS

 

1.      What are the alternatives to signature identification voting ?

 

KBC/njw