S.F. _____ H.F. _____ Section 1. SECRETARY OF STATE —— ABSENT VOTER SIGNATURE 1 VERIFICATION STUDY —— REPORT. The secretary of state shall 2 conduct a study on implementing procedures to verify each 3 absent voter’s signature on the affidavit form printed on 4 the absentee ballot envelope and subscribed to by the voter 5 pursuant to section 53.16 against the voter’s signature on file 6 with state or local election officials and other agencies. 7 The secretary of state shall prepare and file a report making 8 recommendations regarding the implementation of signature 9 verification procedures and shall include information on the 10 costs associated with implementing such procedures. The 11 report may include proposed legislation to implement the 12 recommendations in the report. The secretary of state shall 13 file the report with the governor and the general assembly no 14 later than December 15, 2014. 15 EXPLANATION 16 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with 17 the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly. 18 This bill requires that the secretary of state conduct a 19 study on implementing procedures to verify voter signatures on 20 absentee ballot affidavit envelopes against voter signatures 21 on file with state and local election officials and other 22 agencies. The bill requires that the secretary of state 23 prepare and file a report making recommendations to implement 24 signature verification procedures which shall also include 25 information on the costs associated with implementing those 26 procedures. The secretary of state may also include proposed 27 legislation to implement the recommendations in the report. 28 The bill further requires that the secretary of state file the 29 report with the governor and the general assembly no later than 30 December 15, 2014. 31 -1- LSB 5280XD (3) 85 aw/sc 1/ 1