Transcript Highlights:

• . >> Senator Kelly, you want to vote? >> Okay. All right.
• Kelly,<00:08:16.960> you<00:08:17.120> want<00:08:17.280> to<00:08:17.360> vote
• >> Senator Kelly, you want to vote? >> Senator Kelly, you want to vote?

Bills: SB147, SB158, SB163, SB147, SB158, SB163

Keywords: construction zone, work zone, speed camera, automated enforcement, photo radar, photographic speed enforcement, traffic safety, highway safety, road construction, maintenance workers, civil citation, civil fine, speeding ticket, owner liability, registered owner, ALDOT, Alabama Department of Transportation, ALEA, Alabama State Law Enforcement Agency, public safety

Transcript Highlights:

• Vote. Quorum is present.
• The bill left the House floor with a vote of 142 to nothing.
• I urge the committee to vote this favorably, and I'm happy to answer any questions y'all might have as

Bills: HB3803, HB3804, HB3805, HB3806, HB3833, HB4134, HB4233, HB4238, HB4243

Keywords: HB 3803, Texas Health and Safety Code, Chapter 712, perpetual care cemetery, perpetual care trust fund, cemetery regulation, financial confidentiality, confidential records, regulatory examination, Texas Department of Banking, commissioner disclosure, interagency information sharing, state agency enforcement, federal agency disclosure, trust fund oversight, burial services, cemetery trust, consumer protection, state banks, Texas Finance Code

Transcript Highlights:

• if approve of absentee voting but it's if approve of absentee voting but it's if you<00:18:41.280
• is in absentee or mailin voting is in absentee or mailin voting is vanishingly<00:23:42.880>
• <00:33:48.799> voting restrictions on absentee voting restrictions on absentee voting disproportionately
• number<00:38:09.760> went voters vote absentee uh that number went voters vote absentee uh
• /c><04:48:30.000> you're<04:48:30.160> voting vote absentee Vote or if you're voting vote

Keywords: 1189, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Absentee Voting Act, voting.
• voting and an earlier cutoff for absentee ballot returns.
• absentee voting cities and townships absentee voting cities and townships would<00:59:53.680>
• c><01:05:24.000> would you vote and that absentee ballot would you vote and that absentee ballot
• voting and serve on the absentee ballot board.

Keywords: 1183, house

Transcript Highlights:

• <00:10:13.839> or<00:10:14.079> fashion voted absentee in some form or fashion voted
• Counties are also responsible for administering in-person absentee voting and absentee voting by mail
• > mail voting and absentee voting by mail voting and absentee voting by mail counties<00:26:21.679
• absentee voting and enter those absentee voting and enter those unofficial<00:26:35.159> results
• c> saw days the absentee voting period also saw days the absentee voting period also saw increased

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• You guys want to vote real fast? >> I. >> I. >> I. >> Chair votes yes.
• Chair votes yes.
• con- continued voting or something. con- continued voting or something.
• do the house vote and we'll move on. do the house vote and we'll move on.
• to the counting of absentee ballots. to the counting of absentee ballots.

Keywords: 9:00am HB 158 9:10am HB 281 9:20am HB 317 9:30am HB 340 9:40am HB 1062 9:50am HB 1187 10:00am HB 1234 10:10am HB 1300 10:20am HB 1306 10:30am HB 1381 10:40am HB 1541, 928, house, all

Summary: The committee of conference first resolved House Bill 158, which concerns public inspection of absentee ballot lists. The Senate explained a revised approach that removed the broader bill language and instead directed the Secretary of State to review absentee ballot data after each general election for patterns such as common addresses and to report findings to the committees of jurisdiction. The House agreed to the Senate position, and the conference committee voted unanimously to concur. The committee then took up House Bill 281, dealing with a sortable electronic voter checklist. Members debated the Senate’s removal of language that would have included the absentee ballot mailing address when different from the voter’s registration address. Concerns were raised that releasing mailing addresses could expose where voters are not home and could affect overseas and military voters. The committee also discussed a related form for election officials who personally know a voter, including how long the form would be retained and whether it would be subject to public records law. After further discussion, the House agreed to the Senate changes with an additional requirement that the form be signed, and the committee voted to proceed with the amended Senate position. House Bill 317, concerning verification of a person’s identity by a supervisor of the checklist without identification, was also discussed at length. The Senate’s version preserved the ability for election officials to identify people they know, but required a signed form under penalty of perjury and added a nursing home-related provision. Members described the measure as balancing community-based identification with tighter documentation, and a House witness described local problems with inconsistent ID checks and concerns about voting in nursing homes. The House sought one additional change requiring the nursing home verification form to be signed, and the Senate accepted that addition; the committee then voted to move the bill forward on the consent calendar. The conference committee next considered House Bill 340 on electioneering by public employees. The chair presented a replace-all amendment that tied the definition of electioneering to existing law, added a prohibition on expressly or primarily political surveys, and created a civil penalty of up to $1,000 alongside the misdemeanor penalty. Members discussed clarifying when the misdemeanor versus civil penalty would apply and which categories of public employees were covered. After caucus, the Senate agreed to the House’s replace-all approach with the clarifying changes, and the bill was closed. The committee also resolved House Bill 1062 by agreeing to strike a sunset clause from the Senate version authorizing random audits of citizenship qualifications, and it began discussion of House Bill 1187 on the filing window for special-election candidates, where the House proposed requiring local election officials to arrange a filing time on the same day or next business day after being contacted.

Transcript Highlights:

• c><00:56:47.119> sure<00:56:47.200> that absentee voting and to make sure that absentee
• So, briefly, to go through absentee voting: one, the ballots are distinguishable from official election
• So, briefly, to go through absentee voting: one, the ballots are distinguishable from official election
• So you can determine from the checklist which voters voted absentee.
• So you can determine from the checklist which voters voted absentee.

Keywords: 1191, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• The very fact that somebody needs to vote absentee means they are removed from some of the services that
• The very fact that somebody needs to vote absentee means they are removed from some of the services that
• <00:14:42.519> absentee that somebody needs to vote absentee that somebody needs to vote absentee
• And lastly, just as looking at absentee voting in general, we usually average about 10% in this state
• If I went to vote and Senator Perkins Quoka had already stolen my vote with an absentee ballot, I would

Keywords: 1191, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• > and to vote to vote privately and to vote to vote privately and independently<00:26:14.159>
• Representative C votes yes. Representative Gzowski votes yes. Representative Toner votes yes.
• Representative Major votes yes. Representative Lane votes yes. Representative Ward votes no.
• Representative Toner votes yes. Representative Major votes yes. Representative Lane votes no.
• Representative Grill votes no. Representative Wilham votes no. Representative Nome votes no.

Keywords: 1189, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• to be able to vote by absentee if they meet uh the constitutional requirements to be able to vote by
• related to absentee voting are not the related to absentee voting are not the same<00:27:53.480>
• But I would point out that if a person had their vote stolen by an absentee vote, we would know.
• I didn't vote absentee.
• as noted as voting absentee I didn't<00:55:42.960> vote<00:55:43.280> absentee<00:55:44.160

Keywords: 1189, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• . vote. vote.
• to possibly vote. to possibly vote.
• election absentee ballots. election absentee ballots.
• We have an absentee<01:30:56.680> ballot absentee ballot absentee ballot in<01:30:58.280> various
• absentee ballots. absentee ballots.

Keywords: 1189, house, all

Summary: The committee of conference first took up House Bill 158 on public inspection of absentee ballot lists. The Senate explained that its amendment replaced the original bill with a requirement that the Secretary of State review absentee ballot data after each general election and report findings to the committees of jurisdiction, focusing on unusual patterns such as multiple ballots sent to the same address. After a brief caucus, the House agreed to the Senate position, and members voted individually to concur. The committee then discussed House Bill 281, which concerns making the electronic voter checklist available in a sortable format. The main dispute was whether the public list should include the mailing address where an absentee ballot was sent if it differs from the voter’s registered address. The Senate argued that including mailing addresses could expose where voters actually live or are away from home and could create safety concerns, while the House argued the information could help candidates reach voters and was not primarily a fraud measure. The parties also discussed a related nursing home verification provision and record-retention/public-records questions. After caucusing, the House agreed to the Senate’s position with the added nursing home signing language, and the committee closed the bill on consent. House Bill 340, concerning electioneering by public employees, was then taken up with a Senate amendment that narrowed the definition of electioneering by tying it to existing statutory language, added a prohibition on expressly or primarily political surveys, and created a civil penalty option alongside the misdemeanor penalty. Senators and representatives debated whether the penalties should be mandatory or discretionary and how the language would apply to certain categories of public employees. After further clarification and caucus, the House accepted the Senate’s amended replace-all language, and the committee closed HB 340. Finally, the committee opened House Bill 1062, authorizing the Secretary of State to conduct random audits of citizenship qualifications of registered voters. The Senate explained that its changes removed the need for a permanent audit power by allowing records to be checked against databases and by requiring identification for registration going forward, which is why it added a sunset clause. The House member objected to the sunset and wanted the authority to continue indefinitely, and discussion continued as the transcript ended.

Transcript Highlights:

• Representative C votes yes. Representative Gzowski votes yes. Representative Toner votes yes.
• Representative Major votes yes. Representative Lane votes yes. Representative Ward votes no.
• Representative Toner votes yes. Representative Major votes yes. Representative Lane votes no.
• Representative Ward votes no. Representative Gilmore votes no. Representative Mirad votes no.
• Representative Grill votes no. Representative Wilham votes no. Representative Nome votes no.

Keywords: 928, house, all

Summary: The House Election Law Committee held an orientation and then opened a public hearing on House Bill 67-FN-A, which would make permanent the use of accessible voting machines in local elections and provide funding for additional systems. The chair outlined committee procedures, noting a heavy workload of roughly 70 to 80 bills, mostly Tuesday meetings, likely time limits on testimony, and a default of executive session unless a bill is specifically noticed. Members and staff were introduced, and the Secretary of State’s office described its election-related responsibilities, including voter registration, cybersecurity, ballot-counting equipment, and the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) program. Secretary of State David Scanlan and Deputy Secretary Aon Hennessy explained the current pilot program created by last year’s law, which requires accessible voting systems for local elections and allows the state to share machines with municipalities during the first half of 2025. They said the office has made hardware available, but towns have raised concerns about the speed of implementation and the cost of programming each election, especially for towns with multiple ballot questions. Scanlan said the state is also vetting longer-term options, including devices that could remain in polling places year-round, and suggested the committee consider delaying the bill’s effective date to January 1, 2026 to better align with implementation needs. Hennessy said the current state devices are older and complicated to reset for each election, and estimated programming costs could be about $600 for a small single-election ballot and much higher for towns with multiple elections. Supporters of the bill emphasized the importance of accessible voting for people with disabilities. Representative Robert Wy said the measure builds on 2024 law and would move the pilot into a permanent agreement, citing ADA concerns and prior testimony about discriminatory voting experiences. Fred Forier, a legally blind voter from Exeter, testified that accessible voting systems allow him to vote privately and independently and urged support for the bill. Committee members asked about the gap if the pilot ends before a permanent system is in place and about the cost range for programming. No vote was taken during the hearing, and the committee moved on after public testimony began.

Transcript Highlights:

• <00:08:47.240> absentee commitments at home to vote absentee commitments at home to vote absentee
• when about one-third of the voters voted absentee and it worked."
• situations that encourage them to vote situations that encourage them to vote absentee<00:09:47.600
• <00:11:12.440> um<00:11:12.600> our absentee voting in New Hampshire um our absentee
• Across this country, support no-excuse absentee voting.

Keywords: 1191, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Counties are responsible for administering in-person absentee voting and absentee voting by mail.
• Counties are responsible for administering in-person absentee voting and absentee voting by mail.
• Counties are responsible for administering in-person absentee voting and absentee voting by mail.
• > mail<00:32:06.840> counties and absentee voting by mail counties and absentee voting
• <00:47:31.640> for absentee voting so absentee voting for absentee voting so absentee voting

Keywords: 1183, house

Summary: The Minnesota House Elections Finance and Government Operations Committee met to begin its session with member and staff introductions, then heard an overview from Secretary of State Steve Simon and elections director Paul Linnell on the state’s elections administration and budget needs. Simon said the office’s committee-jurisdiction budget request was for the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) election security grant match: Minnesota received about $1 million in federal funds in 2024 and needs a $200,000 state match to unlock the money for election security navigator work. He also previewed the office’s broader presentation on the 2024 election, outreach efforts, and election security. Simon described the 2024 election cycle as successful, saying his administrative goals were high turnout and low drama. He reported that Minnesota had very high turnout in the November election, with more than 3.27 million ballots cast and about 76.4% turnout, and noted that more than 1.3 million voters cast ballots before Election Day. He also highlighted outreach and accessibility efforts, including the Students Voting Program, Youth Day at the Capitol, National Voter Registration Day activities, expanded online voter tools in additional languages, and work to inform eligible Minnesotans about the Restore the Vote law for people leaving prison. He emphasized that elections are a team effort carried out largely by counties, cities, townships, and election judges. Linnell then explained the state’s election administration structure and responsibilities, including the Statewide Voter Registration System, candidate filing and election reporting systems, voting equipment certification, and post-election performance reviews. He said counties are central to voter registration updates and ballot preparation, and noted that in 2024 there were a handful of counties with ballot errors that required court action, with a vendor process change identified as a contributing factor. Committee members asked for more detail on the number and identity of the affected counties. No votes or formal committee actions were taken during the portion of the meeting reflected in the transcript.

Transcript Highlights:

• Absentee voting is nonpartisan.
• ability to absentee vote.
• restricting access to absentee voting. restricting access to absentee voting.
• absentee voting is not an alternative. absentee voting is not an alternative.
• ballots and absentee voting.

Keywords: 1189, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• it's just an application for absentee it's just an application for absentee ballot<00:01:18.240>
• <00:03:51.920> ballot sample ballots and absentee ballot sample ballots and absentee ballot
• officials it also requires absentee officials it also requires absentee ballot<00:03:57.920>
• absentee voting process and preparing absentee voting process and preparing for<00:04:52.360>
• He said she wasn't really able to vote in person anymore, so he suggested that she vote absentee

Keywords: 1183, house

Transcript Highlights:

• to Temporary locations for absentee to Temporary locations for absentee voting<00:03:52.720>
• <00:08:06.919> voting effect during the absentee voting effect during the absentee voting
• /c><00:18:03.360> um<00:18:03.559> it absentee um voting in person um it absentee um voting
• absentee voting location versus early voting location?
• absentee voting location versus early voting location?

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• <01:15:24.480> absentee claiming to vote absentee claiming to vote absentee representative
• vote absentee confirms your helping you vote absentee confirms your ballot<01:36:13.679> isn't
• <01:53:41.440> been absentee voting process is uh been absentee voting process is uh been
• to<02:19:13.479> be absentee voting was supposed to be absentee voting was supposed to be
• <02:46:23.240> last absentee voting now I testified last absentee voting now I testified last

Keywords: 1189, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Do you know how many inmates actually do vote absentee?
• when you are thinking about absentee when you are thinking about absentee voting<01:49:45.280>
• c> everyone nursing home votes absentee not everyone nursing home votes absentee not everyone in<
• Um, they all vote by absentee ballot, I think.
• voting in person instead of absentee.

Keywords: 1189, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Representative Tab Key's bill deals with absentee voting provisions.
• <00:12:36.839> voting<00:12:37.320> if<00:12:37.519> they of administering absentee
• voting if they of administering absentee voting if they are<00:12:37.920> designated<00:12:38.480
• or vote a certain way and what this Vote or vote a certain way and what this language<00:18:38.760><
• <00:19:14.320> um<00:19:14.760> have vote or refrain from voting um have vote or refrain

Keywords: 919, house, all

Summary: The committee took up House File 1378, an elections administration bill, and first adopted the DE5 amendment. The author described DE5 as a negotiated package combining provisions from several bills on election administration, including notice of temporary polling locations, residence standards for people under civil commitment orders, polling place closure/change notices, absentee voting provisions, special election filing periods, and timelines for filing statements of economic interest. The committee then adopted two additional amendments, A6 and A8, both presented as technical or corrective changes; A8 restored language on off-reservation temporary polling that had been inadvertently left out. Testimony from county election officials and the Secretary of State’s office was generally supportive of the bill’s election-administration changes. Blue Earth County’s Michael Stalberger said the bill would streamline election-day work, improve absentee ballot deadlines, clarify ballot correction procedures, formalize chain-of-custody plans, and speed out-of-court remedies for ballot errors. He also raised concerns about implementation details, including the timing for first chain-of-custody plans, applying candidate filing changes to townships and school districts as well as cities, the short turnaround for college student housing lists, and whether the statewide system could handle new absentee-ballot data fields. Nicole Freeman of the Secretary of State’s office echoed support for the technical cleanup and several policy changes, including removing the permanent absentee application box from voter registration forms, clarifying ballot-board procedures, chain-of-custody planning, and the out-of-court remedy, while also flagging concerns about the absentee application cutoff, city opt-outs from absentee voting, and staffing requirements for absentee locations. Later in the hearing, members discussed a separate proposed amendment, A4/A3, dealing with prohibitions on inducements to vote or register, including lotteries or other chances to win money or goods. The author explained it was intended to clarify existing law and respond to recent examples of large-money election-related giveaways, but after discussion the chair declined to offer the amendment in committee, saying it would likely not have enough support and could be taken up later on the floor. The hearing ended with the technical amendments adopted and the bill advanced with the committee continuing broader discussions on the remaining issues.