House Finance Committee approves amendment to let Alaskans cast presidential write-ins

The House Finance Committee voted 6–5 on March 20 to adopt an amendment to Senate Bill 64 that restores the option for Alaskans to cast write-in votes for president and vice president.

Representative Tomaszewski, who moved the change, said the amendment mirrors House Bill 4 and ‘‘gives all Alaskans choice’’ in federal elections. Tomaszewski argued the change simply restores a write-in option that had been removed from the presidential contest by regulation after Alaska implemented ranked-choice voting.

Carol Beecher, director of the Division of Elections, told the committee the write-in removal stemmed from regulatory clarification: ‘‘This regulation was put into place because there was ambiguity in other statutes regarding electors, independent candidates, and limited political party candidates… the division cleared up that potential ambiguity at the time by enacting regulation 6AAC25.069 when ranked choice voting was implemented.’’ She said election staff treat write-ins first as a single category and will separate and adjudicate individual names only if enough votes indicate an identifiable candidate. Beecher added the cure process applies to absentee envelopes (voter identity on the envelope), not to names written on the ballot, and that the division is staffed to adjudicate write-ins though ballot space can be a practical consideration.

Legal staff flagged additional technical issues. David Dunsmore, staff to Senator Wilikowski, asked how electors would be appointed if a write-in slate prevailed. Andrew Dunmire of legislative legal responded that the amendment’s Section 27 requires a write-in presidential candidate to file a letter certifying information ‘‘required under AS1530-26B,’’ including the names of electors, the vice-presidential candidate’s name and the candidate’s state campaign chair. Dunmire said that filing requirement addresses the appointing-of-electors concern raised by staff.

Opponents said the idea, while not necessarily bad policy, should not be grafted onto a late-stage Senate bill. Senator Wilikowski and several committee members warned that adding substantive new provisions at a late stage risked upsetting a carefully negotiated bill and suggested the write-in measure could proceed on its own through the regular process. Representative Hannon said she would vote against adding the amendment for reasons tied to bargaining and negotiation of the larger measure.

The clerk called the roll after members debated whether the amendment was appropriate for this bill. The committee vote was: Yes — Allard, Stapp, Moore, Tomaszewski, Bynum, Foster; No — Hannon, Jimmy, Galvin, Josephson, Schrage. Co-Chair Foster announced, ‘‘On a vote of 6 yea to 5 nay, Amendment number 2 has been adopted.’’

Earlier in the session the committee adopted a preliminary technical amendment, Amendment A, intended to preserve federal Help America Vote Act protections for first-time voters who register by mail. Representative Schrage had raised a legal concern that SB 64’s proposed removal of utility bills, bank statements and other documents as acceptable ID could violate HAVA; the committee adopted Amendment A to allow first-time mail registrants to use the federally accepted documents to establish identity.

Foster said the committee would hold SB 64 over until its 1:30 p.m. meeting to continue considering amendments and that public testimony for House Bill 21 (voter registration for minors) would be taken when the panel next convenes. The committee adjourned at 9:58 a.m.