Conference committee agrees to adopt revised election-related language; signatures pending
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Summary
A Senate conference committee agreed to adopt revised bill language (the "A and B" versions) after members expressed concern about judicial review; the committee said it will collect signatures and send the report to the House, with formal chamber votes still required.
A Senate committee of conference on Government Operations & Military Affairs agreed to adopt a revised version of bill language presented earlier and will collect signatures to transmit the report to the House, members said.
Speaker 1, a committee member, said the three members present "are going to, take the, revised version that Rick presented earlier in this meeting, the a and the b," while warning that "the more expansive we make the universe, the more potentially likely it is to, have to undergo judicial review." The remark framed the committee's decision as a balance between stronger language and legal risk.
Speaker 3 described the chosen text as "narrower than California's," arguing the draft seeks to "thread a needle" by offering greater protection for elections without repeating what courts found problematic in that other state's litigation. Speaker 4 said they were "not comfortable with the language" but acknowledged enough agreement at the table to move it forward for the purpose of protecting elections.
On procedure, Speaker 5 summarized the next steps: "It's a senate bill, so it'll go to the house. It's an up or down vote. If it's an up, it goes to the senate. And if it's an up, it goes to the governor." Committee members discussed that if either chamber votes the measure down, leadership could form a new committee of conference.
The committee discussed logistics for finalizing the report. Speaker 1 asked to wait to sign until Senator Bielski could "actually I think she has to be in person in order to do that," and Speaker 3 said they would "message to John Bloomer to see if there was a DocuSign or or virtual way" to gather the required signatures, adding, "if not, I'll figure out some way to mask up and hide somewhere and come in and sign." Speakers noted a verbal roll-call vote appeared unnecessary and that the immediate formality remaining was signatures to complete the committee report.
The transcript does not record a formal roll-call tally or a recorded roll-call vote. Members concluded the meeting with informal thanks and brief remarks; the committee indicated it would collect signatures and transmit the signed report to chamber leaders for the formal up-or-down votes required by each chamber.
