A bill to criminalize some kinds of absentee ballot voter assistance – creating a felony on par with statutory rape or involuntary manslaughter – sped out of an Alabama state senate committee on Wednesday.
The proposed legislation initially prohibited people other than close family members or co-habitants from helping any voter request an absentee ballot, filling out that application or ballot, or returning that ballot to elections offices. The bill carves out exceptions for people with disabilities and those who cannot read or write. Receiving or giving money for these activities could be prosecuted as class B or class C felonies, respectively, under the proposed law.
The legislation addresses instances of voter fraud, said Garlan Gudger, an Alabama senator and author of the bill, before a packed hearing room at the senate state governmental affairs committee. Counties with unusual proportions of absentee ballot activity demonstrate evidence of fraud, he said.
“There is a website in the secretary of state’s office,” he said. “They have different counties that have shown the percentages.”
Alabama’s ACLU questioned that assertion.
“We would challenge the senator to publicly release that data,” said Laurel Hattix, staff attorney with the Alabama ACLU. “We have not seen that data. There has been no evidence provided to organizations, to other policymakers that this idea of ballot harvesting or problems with absentee ballots is a widespread problem in Alabama.”
She noted that a Heritage Foundation analysis found only 20 instances of fraud between 2000 and 2023. “This is a bill that is proposing incarceration and criminal penalties for a problem that doesn’t exist.”
After hearing criticisms of the proposal, Gudger introduced a new version of the legislation on Wednesday. The new version permits a voter to choose any assistant for help, though the criminal penalties for payment remain. Provisions of the proposed legislation first emerged in different legislation two years ago, and then again in last year’s house bill 209, stalling each time after public outcry.
Armani Bentson, a freshman at Alabama State studying political science who attended the hearing, said: “Alabama has a history of suppressing voting rights, just so Black people will have a harsher time.” Legislation like this targets Black voters, she said. “But at the same time, it affects everyone.”
Republicans have a legislative supermajority in Alabama. To the degree that this legislation might be seen as partisan, there is little ground to gain, Bentson said. “But I feel we shouldn’t get discouraged, I feel that we should just keep fighting, keep standing up for our rights and keep emphasizing on the consequences.”
Gudger told the crowd that he wanted the committee to wait before voting the legislation through to the full senate, and the committee chairman, Tom Butler, appeared to agree at first, before calling a vote over the objections of Gudger and the Democratic members of the committee. The bill passed out of committee on a party-line vote.
Alabama’s 2024 legislative session began just yesterday. In the State of the State address yesterday, the very first policy issue the governor, Kay Ivey, discussed was “ballot harvesting”, or the practice of collecting ballots by third parties.
“We would put a stop to any manipulation of our elections by closing loopholes that allow unaccountable, paid political operatives to pressure folks through the absentee voting process,” she said.
Traditionally, lawmakers give some deference and allow a few days to examine a bill after substantial changes are made, said Merica Coleman, a state senator.
“We heard yesterday that the majority party wanted to have this bill up on the calendar for Thursday,” Coleman said. “But generally, the culture is that if you get a substitute bill the day of, you give the members the courtesy to be able to digest that bill … I would question any lawmaker on any level voting on a piece of legislation that they haven’t read. We just did not have enough time to read that legislation. The public now needs to get in contact with the Alabama senate and express their outrage.”
Gudger insisted that he intended to ask floor leaders to delay a vote on the bill until at least next week, to permit electronic copies of the bill to circulate and for legislators to examine its provisions.
“I think it’s the right thing to do to allow the people to review this bill – which is a new and entirely different bill – after listening to all the opposing views and the people who were pro-this bill throughout the last nine months, I think it’s the right thing to do to wait until next week. There’s no rush.”
If the senate actually does vote on the bill next week, Gudger said, “I think you should kick me out of office. But it’s not going to happen. I feel that strongly about it.”
