Bill to limit absentee voting fails to advance

BOISE — A bill that would restrict the use of absentee voting to certain circumstances stalled in a House Committee on Wednesday.

Rep. Joe Alfieri, R-Coeur d’Alene, presented House Bill 139, which would create restrictions on who can request an absentee ballot and why. The reasons would be limited to those who couldn’t vote in-person because of active-duty military service; illness, disability, or hospitalization; work or university obligations; occupying a second home; a religious mission; being 65 or older; or living in a precinct that only has mail-in voting.

After mostly negative testimony — with seven speaking in opposition and two in favor — the House State Affairs Committee split in a 7-7 vote.

A motion to hold the bill in committee first died in the tie vote and was followed by another tie vote to send the bill to the floor with a recommendation that it pass. The move leaves it up to the chairperson to decide if the bill comes back.

House State Affairs Chairperson Rep. Brent Crane, R-Nampa, who voted in favor of the bill, told the Idaho Press that one of the committee’s two Democrats was not present Wednesday but their vote likely would’ve killed the bill, so that would factor into his decision on whether to bring it up again. He indicated it’s unlikely to return.

Alfieri told committee members that the growing use of absentee voting prompted his concern, and that the preferred method of voting should be in-person when possible.

Rep. Mike Pohanka, R-Jerome, asked how county clerks — who are tasked with running elections — felt about the bill.

“There is vast opposition to this, and I struggle to understand why that is the case,” Alfieri responded, “because what we’re trying to do is return Idaho to its original purpose on absentee ballots.”

Rep. Stephanie Mickelsen, R-Idaho Falls, asked about how some groups were chosen to be included under the umbrella of who could vote absentee, and some weren’t, noting that there wasn’t an exception for parents who have young children at home.

Alfieri said the bill has been worked on for “years,” and it covers the objections he’s heard.

He added, “We have to establish what our hierarchy of priorities are in the life choices that we make, and those life choices should include a respect and a duty to your country to preserve this republic.”

Rep. Clint Hostetler, R-Twin Falls, made a motion to send the bill to the floor with a recommendation that it pass prior to public testimony.

Most of the testimony in opposition argued that Idaho’s elections already are secure and that the bill would make it harder for people to vote. Others argued that there are too many reasons someone may want to or need to vote absentee to enumerate in a bill.

“Don’t fix what ain’t broke, please,” Boise resident Mary Ruckh said. “Please do not create any unnecessary barriers for Idaho citizens by eliminating no-excuse (absentee) voting.”

Secretary of State Phil McGrane said he supported efforts to improve security but did not feel the bill struck the balance between access and security.

“It doesn’t increase the security of absentee balloting at all, it merely reduces the access to absentee balloting,” McGrane said.

Kathy Ackerman, Idaho County clerk and member of the Idaho Association of County Recorders and Clerks, also opposed the bill.

Crane asked Ackerman about the early voting as an alternative option to absentee, and Ackerman highlighted that Idaho County’s only early voting location is in Grangeville, with many residents living more than 60 miles away.

Jackie Davidson, a Republican precinct committee member, spoke in favor as well as Tim O’Donnell of Secure Idaho. Both highlighted election security as their reasons for wanting to limit the use of absentee ballots.

Crane said he would support the bill because Idaho in the past — roughly 40 years ago, according to McGrane — required certain excuses to vote absentee. He also noted that early voting was less accessible then, too.

“We’re just going back to what was in place,” Crane said.

Rep. Vito Barbieri, R-Dalton Gardens, also supported the bill, saying he thought it was important to “balance the potential for fraud against the right to vote and the necessity of making sure that the integrity of the election is as closely monitored as possible.”

Mickelsen made a motion to hold the bill in committee, which would kill it. Rep. Shawn Dygert, R-Melba, said he thought limiting absentee voting could limit rural counties and he had hesitations over giving clerks the ability to decide who can and can’t vote absentee.

Mickelsen’s motion to hold the bill died in a 7-7 vote, and the next motion to send the bill to the floor met the same fate. With no other motions on the table, the meeting adjourned.

Guido covers Idaho politics for the Lewiston Tribune, Moscow-Pullman Daily News and Idaho Press of Nampa. She may be contacted at lguido@idahopress.com and can be found on Twitter @EyeOnBoiseGuido.