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Senate committee clears ballot-authentication housekeeping bill for floor
Summary
The committee gave House Bill 310 a due-pass recommendation after sponsors described it as election-code housekeeping that removes obsolete optical-scan references and clarifies parameters for ballot identifiers, with county clerks' association testimony in support.
Representative Steve Tanner and Ben Toews told the committee House Bill 310 is largely technical housekeeping to update Idaho election code: it removes references to optical-scan ballot equipment that counties no longer use and clarifies how unique ballot identifiers should operate when used.
Tanner said the bill provides alternatives for ballot authentication — watermarking, holograms, security paper or identifiers — and sets parameters for the vendor systems that can assign unique identifiers. "Not all voting systems in Idaho have this capability," he said, noting one vendor currently supports unique identifiers.
Haley Johnson, testifying for the Idaho Association of County Recorders and Clerks, said clerks reviewed the bill from a technical perspective and supported it after the sponsor made minor changes to avoid negative impacts on county election administration.
The committee voted to send House Bill 310 to the Senate floor with a due-pass recommendation. The bill advances as a technical update intended to preserve current county processes while clarifying security options.
