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Audits of voter citizenship draw protests and a guarded defense from Secretary of State
Summary
House Bill 1062, to allow randomized audits of affidavit‑based voter registrations, prompted strong opposition from civil‑rights and immigrant groups over privacy and accuracy; Secretary of State said audits are intended to bolster confidence and supported an amendment adding reporting, statistical safeguards and a sunset.
Representative Bob Lynn introduced HB 1062 to authorize the Secretary of State to conduct randomized audits to verify the citizenship qualifications of registered voters who used affidavits to attest to citizenship. Lynn said the measure is intended to address uncertainty about the extent of non‑citizen registrations.
Opposition from advocacy groups was widespread in testimony. Open Democracy and immigrant‑rights organizations warned that the bill could rely on incomplete private or federal databases, lead to erroneous referrals, and disproportionately target people of color and naturalized citizens. "This bill consolidates unchecked power, puts lawful voters in an impossible situation, and adds unknown costs," a witness said, noting past reviews in other states where similar programs flagged large numbers of lawfully registered voters.
The ACLU and civic‑engagement groups also raised privacy and process concerns: who would see or retain data, whether private databases would permanently store sensitive voter information, and what redress would be available to anyone flagged in an audit. Multiple witnesses urged the committee to reject the measure or require strong transparency and appeal procedures.
Secretary of State David Scanland told senators the bill's purpose is voter confidence and that affidavit‑based additions to the checklist are a legitimate focus for review. He emphasized safeguards in state law about confidentiality of voter data and said his office would not purge voters as a result of an audit; rather, potential cases would be submitted to the Attorney General for any further action. Scanland told the committee he supported an amendment from Senator Perkins Quoka that would require a statistically sound randomization method, public reporting on methodology and findings, privacy protections, and a temporary (sunset) period so the Legislature could reassess after a trial period.
Committee members heard numerous questions about whether private commercial data sources should be used and how the process would handle database errors, overseas or deployed voters, and people without ready access to identity documents. No final committee vote on the bill was recorded in the hearing transcript; senators asked the Secretary to work with stakeholders on statutory language that balances integrity checks with privacy, accuracy and procedural protections.
