Proposal to Expand Access to Elections Records Quickly Rebounds in Senate

Sponsored by Senator Alma Francis Heyliger, Bill No. 0149 would compel the BOE to utilize technology and cloud-based services to publish any records available for in-person viewing and grant access to non-registered voters.

While the bill appeared to garner a fair amount of support from lawmakers, the Rules and Judiciary held the measure in order to afford the Board of Elections time to review the amendments submitted by the bill’s sponsor. The amended bill addressed several of the issues the BOE raised in opposition of the bill.

The current law, as prescribed by Title 18 of the VI Code, allows a “qualified voter of the district” to view publicly available records during normal business hours under the supervision of a Board of Elections member or employee.

Bill No. 0149 aims to modernize the policy, first established in 1963, to keep in line with technological advancements made since that time and to ensure true transparency for all taxpayers, not just registered voters.

In addition, the bill would require the BOE to furnish requested records no later than 10 days after the date of request. Previously, the BOE faced no time requirement for satisfying requests.

During her previous testimony to the Rules and Judiciary Committee, BOE Supervisor Caroline Fawkes expressed concerns over the potential publication of personal voter information, the reliability of cloud-based software and the ability of the BOE to fulfill records requests based on the time-frame prescribed in the bill.

Sen. Francis Heyliger noted during the December 9th meeting of the Rules and Judiciary Committee that her office had forwarded the original copy of the bill to the BOE back in October, but received no feedback until days prior to the hearing.

Upon receiving testimony from Fawkes, Sen. Francis Heyliger had submitted an amendment that specifies the type of data that the BOE should make available online in order to protect personal information such as phone numbers and e-mail addresses.

In addition, the Sen. Francis Heyliger noted that she changed the language of the bill to allow the BOE to furnish requests within 10 business days as opposed to 10 calendar days.

With regards to only allowing registered voters to access BOE records, the freshman lawmaker, a fierce proponent of government transparency rooted in her campaign platform, remained firm on her stance that all taxpayers, not just those registered with the BOE, should have equal access to records compiled by the BOE.

“I can’t in good conscience say that I’m going to continue a piece of law that clearly discriminates between a voter and a non-voter,” said Sen. Francis Heyliger during the December 9th committee hearing, “but in the same sentence tell them that it's open to the public. Something is clearly wrong there.”

Should the Rules and Judiciary Committee vote favorably for the measure during its meeting on Wednesday, the bill will move on to the full legislature for consideration the following day.