Bill Summary for Bill Number SB12-147

Date: 03/20/2012

Final
BILL SUMMARY for SB12-147

HOUSE COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY

Votes: View-->	Action Taken:
Postpone indefinitely Senate Bill 12-147. The moti Refer Senate Bill 12-147 to the Committee of the W	PASS FAIL

01:51 PM -- Senate Bill 12-147

Representative Williams, sponsor, presented Senate Bill 12-147 concerning the intent to prevent a person from voting in an election by intentionally communicating false information. The bill makes it a class 5 felony to prevent or dissuade a person from voting by knowingly making false statements regarding election procedures or voter eligibility, if the communication is within 90 days of an election.

The bill also requires the Attorney General:

or district attorney to investigate credible reports of alleged violations, to undertake necessary corrective actions, and to prosecute as necessary;

to promulgate related rules; and

to submit a report after each general election to the House and Senate State, Veterans, and Military Affairs committees that is a compilation of allegations of violations for the previous two years.

Representative Williams responded to questions from the committee and distributed a news article on the subject of the bill (Attachment A).

01:59 PM -- Elena Nunez, representing Colorado Common Cause, testified in support of the bill. Ms. Nunez spoke about a variety of programs for monitoring elections in Colorado. She responded to questions from the committee.

02:02 PM -- Jean Nofles, representing AARP, testified in support of the bill. Ms. Nofles stated her opinion that the bill will help to create a 90-day "bubble of integrity" prior to each election. She indicated that this is a civil rights issue. She spoke about the importance of the provision requiring reporting by the Attorney General. Ms. Nofles responded to questions from the committee.

02:10 PM -- Erin Bennett, representing 9 to 5: National Organization for Working Women, testified in support of the bill. Ms. Bennett stated her opinion that any barriers to voting will further disenfranchise certain voters. She responded to questions from the committee.

02:14 PM -- Shawn Griffith, representing New Era Colorado, testified in support of the bill. Mr. Griffith spoke about the disenfranchisement of young voters.

02:16 PM -- Seif Bendiff, representing New Era Colorado, testified in support of the bill. Mr. Bendiff spoke about the importance of upholding the integrity of the democratic process. He reiterated the testimony of prior witnesses.

02:19 PM -- Rosemary Harris Lytle, representing the American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado, testified in support of the bill. Ms. Harris Lytle spoke about the history of preventing individuals from voting through the use of trickery. She discussed anecdotal evidence of such trickery targeted toward Colorado College students in the 2010 elections. She expressed her opinion that barrier-free access to voting in Colorado is of the utmost importance. She responded to questions from the committee.

02:31 PM -- Theresa Daniels, representing the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Colorado State Conference, testified in support of the bill. Ms. Daniels reiterated the testimony of prior witnesses with regard to election integrity. She responded to questions from the committee.

02:35 PM -- Michael Dougherty, representing the Colorado Attorney General's Office, testified in opposition to the bill. Mr. Dougherty indicated that the conduct covered by the bill is already against the law. He distributed the current statute (Attachment B). He challenged the committee to come up with a fact pattern that is not covered by current law. He stated that there are very few complaints about this type of behavior and prosecutions are extremely rare. He objected to the reporting requirement for the Attorney General's Office, especially concerning unfounded allegations of improper conduct. Mr. Dougherty responded to questions from the committee. He indicated that no charges have been filed under the current law in the past five years. He continued to respond to questions from the committee.

02:57 PM

The committee continued to discuss incidents of intentional deception designed to influence voting.

03:04 PM -- Ms. Nunez returned to the table to respond to questions about the differences between current law and what is proposed by the bill. She expressed her opinion that there is an ambiguity in current law regarding time, place, and manner of elections that is addressed by the bill. Additionally, she believes the bill provides corrective action that does not exist in current law. She addressed questions about the appropriate level of penalty for the offense created in the bill. She also discussed the potential corrective action required by the bill.

03:12 PM -- Olivia Mendoza, representing the Colorado Latino Leadership Advocacy and Research Organization, testified in support of the bill. Ms. Mendoza reiterated the testimony of prior witnesses with regard to the integrity of elections and stressed the importance of corrective action. She responded to questions from the committee.

03:16 PM

Representative Williams wrapped up her presentation of the bill and submitted two letters of support (Attachments C and D).

03:19 PM

The committee took a brief recess.

03:21 PM

The committee returned to order. Members of the committee commented at length about their positions on the bill.


BILL:	SB12-147
TIME:	03:40:34 PM
MOVED:	Ryden
MOTION:	Refer Senate Bill 12-147 to the Committee of the Whole. The motion failed on a vote of 4-6, with 1 excused.
SECONDED:	Lee
		VOTE
	DelGrosso	Excused
	Duran	Yes
	Kagan	No
	Lee	Yes
	Nikkel	No
	Pabon	Yes
	Ryden	Yes
	Sonnenberg	No
	Waller	No
	Barker	No
	Gardner B.	No

YES: 4 NO: 6 EXC: 1 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: FAIL


BILL:	SB12-147
TIME:	03:41:12 PM
MOVED:	Sonnenberg
MOTION:	Postpone indefinitely Senate Bill 12-147. The motion passed on a vote of 6-5.
SECONDED:	Waller
		VOTE
	DelGrosso	Yes
	Duran	No
	Kagan	No
	Lee	No
	Nikkel	Yes
	Pabon	No
	Ryden	No
	Sonnenberg	Yes
	Waller	Yes
	Barker	Yes
	Gardner B.	Yes

Final YES: 6 NO: 5 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS