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Judiciary panel advances Equal Access to the Ballot Act to full Senate after technical fixes and perfecting amendment
Summary
The Judiciary Committee advanced the Equal Access to the Ballot Act, which requires electronic filing of statements of economic interest, adds a verification/affirmation receipt and a cure period for filing defects, and incorporates a Lexington amendment to use county election commission headquarters for filings; committee sent the bill to the floor 19–1.
The Senate Judiciary Committee voted to forward the Equal Access to the Ballot Act to the full Senate after adopting technical changes and a perfecting amendment addressing where and how candidates file required disclosure forms.
Sponsor testimony said the bill responds to a previous election cycle when more than 250 candidates were removed from ballots over technical filing errors. The proposal requires candidates to file a statement of economic interest electronically before submitting a statement of intention of candidacy; it also requires the receiving official (party representative at the time of filing) to verify that the electronic SEI has been filed and to give the candidate a written affirmation (a receipt). The measure creates an opportunity to cure technical defects before a candidate is certified, rather than immediately disqualifying the filer.
Committee members raised practical questions about last‑day filings, website outages, and attachments such as lease documents that cannot currently be uploaded to the SEI system. The sponsor agreed to work on amendments to add a fail‑safe for outages and to reduce an initially stated fine amount; members discussed replacing a vague ‘‘punishable by a fine up to’’ standard with a specific administrative fine and an education requirement to post instructions on the state election commission website.
A perfecting amendment from the senator from Lexington would have the county election commission establish designated areas at its headquarters where party representatives may accept filings; it also shortens the filing window and contains timing language to handle weekend or holiday deadlines. The committee adopted the subcommittee report as perfected and recorded a favorable report to the full Senate (committee tally recorded 19 in favor, 1 opposed).
Sponsor remarks acknowledged the measure is technical and said staff will continue to perfect language between committee action and floor debate. The bill includes an education component requiring the State Election Commission to notify county election commissions and party executive committees and to post guidance on its website so prospective candidates understand the filing steps.
Next steps: the committee report and perfected amendment will be transmitted to the Senate desk and scheduled for floor consideration, where further perfecting amendments are expected.
