dbeard@dominionpost.com
MORGANTOWN – A House bill to limit distribution of absentee ballot applications was paired on Wednesday with another House bill to move up the deadline for counties to receive absentee ballots.
The new two-part bill received some bipartisan opposition in the Judiciary Committee but was approved and heads to the House floor.
HB 2117 began as a bill to just move up the deadline. But HB 2400, which will be on second reading on the floor on Thursday, affects the same code section, so it was decided to merge them in 2117.
The current deadline for county clerks to receive absentee ballots is the day after election day. They must be postmarked no later than election day and must be received no later than the hour canvassing is commenced.
The bill moves the deadline to 7:30 p.m. election day, when polls close.
The provisions patched in from HB 2400 say, “It is unlawful for any person, including any election official, to mail or deliver an application for an absentee ballot to any voter except when specifically requested by the voter; a member of the voter’s immediate family; or a caregiver of the voter.
It sets out criminal penalties for election officials who deliver unsolicited applications and for non-officials who deliver more than 10 applications.
Delegate Evan Hansen, D-Monongalia, opposed HB 2400 on Monday when the committee advanced it to the floor, and opposed this one on Wednesday.
“This is now an omnibus voter suppression bill,” he said. Legal absentee ballots that arrive after the new deadline won’t be counted.
There was no testimony from county clerks that the existing deadline has delayed canvassing or created any uncertainty, he said. “There’s no problem here.”
And he repeated his earlier arguments about HB 2400, that it will prevent distribution of applications to nursing home residents. “I don’t know of any other government document that’s illegal to reproduce and distribute. … This bill will result in fewer people voting, and of those people who do vote, fewer of those votes being counted.”
Delegate Keith Marple, R-Harrison, also opposed it, noting that clerks and the secretary of state’s office haven’t supported it. Currently, clerks count all votes received by canvassing and this bill cuts that time period. It doesn’t prohibit voting but does prohibit votes from being counted.
Delegate Josh Holstein, R-Boone and a co-sponsor of HB 2400, said neither bill prohibits use of absentee ballots for nursing home residents and doesn’t stop anyone from asking if someone wants an application.
Holstein said 31 states have election-day deadlines for receipt of absentee ballots, including deep-blue states Vermont, Connecticut, Hawaii and Delaware.
“This isn’t some kind of fringe idea,” he said. “This is pretty standard.”
The committee approved and advanced the bill in a divided voice vote.
