Bill on runoff vote centers pulled for further work after senators request county data

Senator Petty presented SB 273, which would modify the rules for vote-center placement in runoff elections so that vote centers located within the geographic footprint of the runoff would continue to serve voters without requiring counties to guess which sites to open 30 days before a runoff. "This is a common sense bill that allows for the most voters to have the most access to a runoff ballot in a runoff election," the sponsor said.

Committee members asked whether the bill applied to early voting or only day-of polling sites; Daniel Schultz clarified the provision applies to day-of election sites and not early-voting centers. Schultz also told the committee that roughly 60 counties currently use vote centers while about 15 do not; senators requested a county list before a vote. Concerns were raised about Internet connectivity and poll-book syncing required to operate vote centers in some rural counties.

The sponsor asked to pull the bill so members could receive the requested information and proposed text changes. The committee agreed to take the bill down so the sponsor could consult members and potentially amend the language.