BOISE, Idaho — This article originally appeared in the Idaho Press.
Over the opposition of county clerks, election workers, high school students looking ahead to their first chance to vote, and more, a House committee on Wednesday voted 9-2 along party lines to advance a sweeping 20-page emergency overhaul of Idaho’s voting laws proposed by Rep. Dorothy Moon, R-Stanley.
Moon’s bill, HB 692, was just introduced on Monday.
It includes multiple changes from an earlier version she had introduced that also sought to do away with election-day voter registration; Moon said she decided not to include that after learning that would cause the state to be subject to numerous federal requirements under the 1993 National Voter Registration Act.
Speaking quickly, Moon, who is running for Idaho Secretary of State, told the committee, “I put back in election-day registration after the conversation also with us either going to ‘motor voter’ or keeping same-day registration, we will keep in same-day registration.”
The bill also makes numerous other changes to voting and registration procedures, requires new and different documents including proof of residency and citizenship such as birth certificates to be presented at the polls to vote, imposes new requirements on military and overseas voters, creates a new free, four-year state ID card that Moon estimated would cost the state just $200,000 next year, and more. It also does away with Idaho’s voter ID law that allows those without proof of identification to sign an affidavit.
“We’re going to remove the affidavit as well,” Moon told the committee. “You provide the residency and identification, citizenship for a first-time voter, and if not, you just don’t vote.”
All the public testimony on Moon’s bill was against it. Asa Gray, elections manager for Kootenai County, said, “While I believe this legislation has the positive intention of continuing to keep Idaho elections safe and secure, it contains some flaws which lend themselves more to the disruption of the election process than to the security of it.”
He pointed to numerous specific problems in the bill, including a provision requiring the accepted notice of voter registration to be sent to a residence address, when the entire community of Spirit Lake in his county doesn’t have residential mail delivery and instead relies on post office boxes. “It also hurts voters who recently moved to the state who maybe haven’t changed their driver’s license over due to driver’s licensing backlogs,” he said. “It also makes it hard for military voters who maybe don’t have proof of citizenship with them there where they’re stationed.”
Canyon County Clerk Chris Yamamoto also pointed to numerous problems. “The new rules for election day registration I believe is overly restrictive,” he said. “Voting requires a 30-day residency, a new driver’s license is 90 days. … I think it’s odd that one can use an out-of-state I.D. to prove citizenship but not identity. It eliminates the student I.D. altogether. I think proving citizenship here, while very well intended, will make it harder for naturally born citizens to vote than naturalized citizens.”
Among other concerns, Yamamoto said, “The emergency clause I have an issue with, in that I think we’d better check with ITD and the sheriff’s offices that provide driver’s licenses to see if they can pull this off by May.”
“I oppose this bill as it is written,” he said. He shared a story about his mother’s struggle to get a birth certificate late in life; she was born in rural Oklahoma. “It can be difficult for some,” he said.
A half-dozen high school students testified against the bill. Bridget Gibson, a third-generation Idahoan and a junior at Boise High School, told the committee, “This November will be my first time voting in an election. I’ve been excited for this moment since I did a mock election in my 2nd grade class.” She said, “This bill is going to do nothing but discourage people from registering to vote and voting in general. … We should be doing as much as we possibly can to encourage voters, so everyone can be as excited to vote as I am.”
In her closing comments, Moon told the committee, “If you want to wait till the last day … well then, do it following the guidelines. If you can’t follow the guidelines, well, then, I’m sorry.”
Substitute Rep. Holli Woodings, D-Boise, who was filling in for Rep. Chris Mathias, D-Boise, moved to hold the bill in committee. “It’s very problematic,” she said. “Elections are already very difficult and complex to secure. So I think adding this body of work two months before probably one of the largest primaries in our history is not a good idea.”
Rep. Heather Scott, R-Blanchard, made a substitute motion to send HB 692 to the full House with a recommendation that it “do pass,” and Scott’s motion carried on a 9-2 party-line vote, with only Woodings and Rep. John Gannon, D-Boise, dissenting.
Among Treasure Valley committee members voting in favor of the bill were Reps. Brent Crane, R-Nampa; James Holtzclaw, R-Meridian; and Bruce Skaug, R-Nampa.
BILL TO BAN BALLOT DROP BOXES ADVANCES
Rep. Priscilla Giddings’ bill to ban ballot drop boxes in Idaho elections – including the upcoming May primary – cleared a House committee on a 10-3 Wednesday and headed to the full House, though it drew all-negative public testimony. “We want people to vote as much as possible, but we also need secure elections,” Giddings, who is running for lieutenant governor, told the panel. “So there’s definitely a cost-benefit analysis when you look at the use of drop-off locations.”
“I think that there’s a higher benefit to not having these, with potential fraud or some unforeseen circumstance that could contaminate ballots in a location where there’s not somebody there to make sure that that doesn’t happen,” said the third-term state representative from White Bird.
Among those testifying against the bill was Owhyee County Clerk Angela Barkell, who said her county’s ballot drop boxes are secure and help voters avoid driving 70 miles to Murphy to drop off their ballots. “If it’s not broke, why are we trying to fix it?” Barkell asked. “There’s been no issues with ballot-box stuffing … or the safety of the ballot.”
Among several people speaking against the bill was Sam Sandmire, who said, “There’s no reason at all to eliminate ballot drop-off boxes, no legitimate reason. It’s just another unnecessary bill that will make it harder for people to vote. … I think we should let the county clerks decide what is good for their area, for their county.”
After public testimony was cut off for lack of time, Rep. Randy Armstrong, R-Inkom, moved to send the bill to the full House with a recommendation that it “do pass.” Rep. Vito Barbieri, R-Dalton Gardens, said, “I think it’s a reasonable balance to try to protect against that possible fraud and malfeasance.”
Gannon made a substitute motion to hold the bill in committee, killing it. “I’ve never heard of a problem with these boxes,” he said. “I think this is going to create a great inconvenience for people in Melba and our rural areas, as well as people in Boise, and also I think it’s going to result in voter suppression.”
Rep. Rod Furniss, R-Rigby, said, “Every clerk in my district is opposed to this bill. I’ve used these drop boxes. They’re secure. I see no reason to have this bill go forward.” He was the only Republican to join the panel’s two minority Democrats in supporting Gannon’s substitute motion, which failed 3-10; Armstrong’s motion to advance the bill then passed, 10-3.
Among those backing the bill were Treasure Valley Reps. Crane, Holtzclaw, Skaug, and Joe Palmer, R-Meridian.
Giddings had earlier introduced a personal bill, HB 485, also aimed at outlawing ballot drop boxes. Like all personal bills, that measure was assigned to the House Ways & Means Committee and hasn't gotten a hearing. Her new bill, HB 693, was just introduced on Monday in the House State Affairs Committee, which Crane chairs; it includes an emergency clause to make it take effect immediately upon passage.
GOVERNOR EXPRESSES CONCERN
Gov. Brad Little, in his annual on-the-record "Headliner" Q-and-A session with the Idaho Press Club Tuesday morning, was asked about the array of emergency changes to state election laws that lawmakers are considering right before the upcoming May primary election. “It does concern me that you change the rules and a whole bunch of the electorate would not be aware of the change,” Little said.
“We should make it easier for people to vote and harder for there to be fraud there,” he said.
But the governor also said, “I am concerned about changing the rules. There’s a whole lot of people of Idaho that are not going to be aware of it if they make a significant change.”
The House has also passed HB 439, which would disallow unaffiliated voters from affiliating with a party at the polls in the May 17 election in order to vote in the closed Republican primary, instead requiring them to do so by March 11; and HB 547, which would impose criminal penalties on people who deliver other Idahoans’ absentee ballots for them. Nearly a third of Idaho’s registered voters aren’t affiliated with a party. Both bills have emergency clauses and are now pending in committee in the Senate.
This article originally appeared in the Idaho Press, read more on IdahoPress.com.
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