Judiciary committee refines and advances "Equal Access to the Ballot" bill to prevent technical disqualifications

The Senate Judiciary Committee adopted a set of perfecting amendments to S.B. 2, the "Equal Access to the Ballot Act," and reported the bill to the Senate floor after extended committee debate about electronic filing, verification and safeguards for candidates.

Sponsor Sen. Capstan said the bill is aimed at preventing the result from the prior cycle when more than 250 candidates were removed from ballots for filing defects. The legislation would require that candidates, including incumbents and challengers, electronically file a statement of economic interest (SEI) and that the receiving party official verify filing before accepting a statement of intention of candidacy. The bill also provides an opportunity to cure technical defects and shortens the filing window from March 16–30 to March 23–30, with language to extend the deadline when it falls on weekends or legal holidays.

Committee members raised several practical concerns. One senator noted the possibility of website outages or local power failures on tight filing deadlines and asked for a fail‑safe allowing a paper filing that could be cured within 24 hours; the sponsor said she would work on an amendment to address that scenario between committee and floor. The committee also discussed how to handle supporting documents (for example, leases required to be disclosed on the SEI) when the online system currently does not accept attachments; state staff said such documents may be mailed in as hard copies and that IT changes would require a state IT process.

Lawmakers agreed to an administrative fine structure to avoid the "death penalty" of immediate removal from the ballot for technical errors; the sponsor proposed reducing a fine from $500 to $250 and said the election commission or ethics body would administer appropriate penalties. The bill includes an education requirement: the state election commission must notify county commissions and party executives and post guidance on its website; the statement of intention of candidacy form will include instructions about required electronic filings.

After considering perfecting amendments (including relocating filing reception to county election commission headquarters so party officials can accept filings and adding an affirmation/receipt process), the committee reported the bill to the floor by a recorded vote and later a final recorded vote of 19 to 1.

Sponsor and committee staff emphasized the bill intends to treat incumbents and challengers equally, create verification safeguards and provide a process for correcting technical defects — while recognizing some technical refinements would be finalized prior to floor debate.

The committee also noted the need to coordinate with the state election commission and, where relevant, federal voting‑rights oversight for any process changes.