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:

Wallace

 

DATE TYPED:

02/19/03

 

HB

216/aHVEC

 

SHORT TITLE:

Mailed Ballots for Constitutional Amendments

 

SB

 

 

 

ANALYST:

Collard

 

APPROPRIATION

 

Appropriation Contained

Estimated Additional Impact

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY03

FY04

FY03

FY04

 

 

 

 

Indeterminate

See Narrative

Recurring

General Fund

 

 

 

 

 

 

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

 

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

 

Responses Received From

Secretary of State

Attorney General’s Office

 

SUMMARY

 

     Synopsis of HVEC Amendment

 

The House Voters and Elections Committee amends House Bill 216 to simplify ballot instructions.  Additionally, the amendment eliminates page 11, lines 4 through 7, as that section is not applicable because the Election Code limits election contests and recounts to candidates only, not questions on the ballot.

 

     Synopsis of Original Bill

 

House Bill 216 provides that elections regarding state constitutional amendments shall be conducted by mail ballot only.  It also provides that elections regarding other statewide questions shall be conducted in accordance with the Election code.  This distinguishes how elections are conducted for state constitutional amendments from how elections are conducted for other statewide questions.

 

     Significant Issues

 

House Bill 216 enacts new sections of the Election Code to specify procedures for voting on state constitutional amendments, including the specific ballots used, the register of mailed and received ballots, the manner of voting, the receipt of ballots by county clerks, the handling and counting of ballots by the absentee voter precinct boards, the canvass and recount or recheck of ballots, and the provisional voting on a replacement ballot by a person stating that he or she did not receive the mail ballot.

 

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

 

The Secretary of State indicates conducting mail ballots that are unscheduled will not allow counties or the county clerk’s office to budget properly.  The cost of postage for a mail ballot election at today’s postal rates is $256.0.

 

ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS

 

The Secretary of State notes if the statewide mail ballot elections are held with any frequency, the staffing in the Bureau of Elections must be increased. 

 

TECHNICAL ISSUES

 

The Secretary of State indicates page 2, line 20 through page 3, line 2 should be amended to instruct the voter to mark the ballot according to the instructions for that particular ballot style to match the wording in Section 1-16-6.  Also, on page 11, line 4 “in the event of a contest” is not applicable because the Election Code limits election contests and recounts to candidates only, not questions.

 

The Attorney General’s Office notes that Section 10, subsection E provides that mail ballots are opened, counted and results tallied by the absent voter precinct boards before the polls are closed on election day.  This appears to contradict the counting and tallying of all other votes cast on Election Day, which are not counted and tallied until after the polls close.

 

KBC/sb