Senate committee advances bill on public access to electronic ballot images after privacy and capacity concerns

The Senate Elections Committee on Feb. 25, 2025, voted to report Senate Bill 2541, an act to amend the election law to make electronic ballot images more available to the public. Chair Kristen Gonzalez said the measure is "important for transparency."

The bill drew objections from ranking member Senator Walznick and county election officials, who warned the committee about practical and privacy challenges. Senator Walznick read a submission from Warren County that said the proposal could require "storing, sending, or uploading hundreds, if not thousands of gigabytes of images regardless of compression," and warned: "Imagine the flood of request to review every ballot image and having to secure share file all of that." The county also flagged concerns that publishing ballot images could raise voter-privacy questions in small districts.

Supporters framed the bill as a transparency measure. After brief discussion the committee moved the bill on a voice vote; Senator Bruck moved the motion and Senator Kavanaugh seconded. The record shows at least one dissenting voice during the vote. The committee clerk reported the bill as "reported from committee."

The transcript does not record technical specifications for how counties would store or deliver images, nor does it specify any privacy safeguards or redaction protocols; those details were not specified during the meeting. The committee did not adopt an amendment on the floor of the hearing.

The bill will advance for further consideration; the committee did not set implementation details or deadlines during this session.