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Absentee‑ballot restriction bill draws extensive testimony and fails to advance from committee
Summary
House Bill 139, which would narrow no‑excuse absentee voting and require applicants to meet listed qualifying reasons, drew extended sponsor remarks, Secretary of State testimony and more than a dozen public speakers; the committee’s motions to hold the bill and to send it to the floor both failed on 7–7 tie votes.
Representative Joe Alfieri (District 4) presented House Bill 139, which would restrict no‑excuse absentee voting to enumerated qualifying reasons and tighten distribution of absentee ballot applications. Alfieri said the measure seeks to re‑center absentee voting on its historical purpose (military and infirm voters) and to address perceived chain‑of‑custody, signature verification and coercion risks associated with absentee ballots.
Alfieri described two principal components: (1) a narrowed set of qualifying reasons to receive an absentee ballot and (2) a…
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