HB880:

Elections; electronic return of voted military-overseas ballots.

Bill Summary:

Elections; electronic return of voted military-overseas
ballots; pilot program. Directs the Commissioner of Elections to establish
and supervise a pilot program by which an overseas voter who is a registered
voter of a county or city participating in the pilot program may return his
voted military-overseas ballot by electronic means. The Commissioner is
required by the bill to promulgate standards and
develop procedures for the secure transmission and return, storage, and
processing of voted military-overseas ballots, including security measures,
methods for verifying and authenticating a voter's identity, and encryption
methods for the voted ballots. Counties and cities participating in the pilot
program are required under the bill to participate
in a security review after each election. In each year of the pilot program,
the bill requires the Commissioner to conduct a
security assessment and update the security measures for the pilot program. The
bill also requires that voters eligible to return their military-overseas
ballots by electronic means through the pilot program be permitted to sign the
statement of voter and any other documents related to absentee voting using the
digital signature associated with their respective Common Access Cards issued
by the U.S. Department of Defense. The bill provides that
the pilot program is in effect for elections held on and after January
1, 2023. The Commissioner is required by the bill to submit a report on or before December 1,
2027, on the outcomes of the pilot program and to include a recommendation on whether to implement the electronic return of voted
military-overseas ballots on a permanent, statewide basis. The bill has an
expiration date of December 31, 2027.