The League of Women Voters supports both HB 998 and HB1238, which extend local electoral board certification of elections until either seven calendar days after absentee ballots are returned by mail or ten calendar days after the election.
Sorting mail ballots by precinct is burdensome. Registrars also need time to verify same day registrants and count their provisional ballots. Compounding the workload is that no mail is delivered on Friday when it is a federal holiday, as it was in both 2022 and 2023. Tackling these tasks right after the election means tired administrators can make mistakes. The largest localities barely finished in time last year. Remember this: extending the certification deadline at the local level by three days does not affect the timing of the final certification by the State Board of Elections.
The League of Women Voters supports both HB 998 and HB1238, which extend local electoral board certification of elections until either seven calendar days after absentee ballots are returned by mail or ten calendar days after the election. Sorting mail ballots by precinct is burdensome. Registrars also need time to verify same day registrants and count their provisional ballots. Compounding the workload is that no mail is delivered on Friday when it is a federal holiday, as it was in both 2022 and 2023. Tackling these tasks right after the election means tired administrators can make mistakes. The largest localities barely finished in time last year. Remember this: extending the certification deadline at the local level by three days does not affect the timing of the final certification by the State Board of Elections.