HF3499 Summary

• Applies only to the 2020 state primary and general elections, allowing counties and municipalities to designate polling places after the normal deadline (by July 1, 2020), train health care facility employees to administer absentee voting, and extend absentee ballot processing up to 14 days before and 3 days after election day.

• Permits electronic submission of candidate affidavits, nominating petitions with electronically-collected signatures, and write-in candidate requests, while allowing local election officials to respond to COVID-19 by consolidating polling places or altering procedures per health commissioner recommendations.

• Appropriates $7,389,506 in federal Help America Vote Act (HAVA) funds plus $1,477,901 in state matching funds for modernizing voter registration systems, cybersecurity upgrades, accessibility improvements, election official training, and security improvements, available until December 21, 2024.

• Appropriates $6,930,610 in federal HAVA funds under the CARES Act for election official and voter health and safety, social distancing outreach, increased absentee voting support, training, new polling locations, and electronic roster systems, available until March 27, 2022, with conditional state match of $1,386,122 if required.

• Establishes a local grant program administered by the secretary of state, providing up to 75 percent funding for electronic roster systems and 80 percent for other COVID-19 related election expenses, requiring grant applications with specific information and a report to legislative committees by January 15, 2021.