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Committee hears hours of testimony on HB 139 absentee restrictions; motions to advance fail on tie votes
Summary
Representative Joe Alfieri sponsored HB 139 to narrow absentee ballot eligibility and limit who may send absentee ballot applications; the Secretary of State and county clerks testified against broad restrictions while some witnesses supported the bill; two motions to either hold or advance the bill failed on 7–7 outcomes so no action was taken.
Representative Joe Alfieri presented House Bill 139, which would tighten eligibility for absentee ballots and restrict who may send absentee-ballot applications to voters.
Alfieri described two main elements: (1) narrower qualifications for obtaining an absentee ballot (returning absentee voting closer to its historical, limited uses); and (2) a prohibition on sending absentee ballot applications to voters unless the elector directly requested one. Alfieri argued absentee voting raises chain-of-custody, signature-verification and coercion risks, and cited selective local incidents (for example, ‘‘hundreds of ballot recommendations… found in a dumpster in Rathdrum’’) and broader national concerns.
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