Alaska revising absentee ballot rules

FAIRBANKS, Alaska, March 1 (UPI) -- The Alaska Senate has approved legislation designed to keep political parties and others from interfering with the absentee ballot process.

Under the proposed law, voters would send completed absentee ballot applications directly to the state division of elections rather than to a political party or other intermediary. It also makes it a crime to interfere with the process.

In 2004 the Alaska Democratic Party distributed its own application forms and had residents send them back to the party rather than to the elections division, a process the bill's sponsor, Republican State Sen. Gene Therriault said, put voter privacy at risk.

Therriault, the Fairbanks (Alaska) Daily News-Miner said Tuesday, believes the presence of personal information like Social Security numbers on the applications makes it unwise to have someone other than elections division workers handle the documents.

The bill also mandates application forms distributed by parties or others be approved by the elections division. It passed the Senate 17-0 with three members absent and must still be approved by the Alaska House.