Honorable Jodie Laubenberg, Chair, House Committee on Elections
FROM:
Ursula Parks, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:
SB5 by Huffman (Relating to requiring a voter to present proof of identification; providing a criminal penalty.), As Engrossed
The provisions of the bill addressing felony sanctions are the subject of this analysis. The bill would amend the Election Code to allow voters unable to provide photo identification to provide instead alternate identification in conjunction with a sworn or affirmed declaration of reasonable impediment. Under the provisions of the bill, an individual who provided a false statement or provided false information on the declaration would be subject to prosecution for perjury, which includes aggravated perjury, a third degree felony. The bill would also make intentionally making a false statement or providing false information of reasonable impediment punishable as a third degree felony.
A third degree felony is punishable by confinement in prison for a term from 2 to 10 years and, in addition to confinement, an optional fine not to exceed $10,000.
Expanding the list of behaviors for which a criminal penalty is applied and creating an offense are expected to result in increased demands upon the correctional resources of counties or of the State due to a potential increase in the number of individuals placed under supervision in the community or sentenced to a term of confinement within state correctional institutions. This analysis assumes the provisions of the bill addressing felony sanctions would not result in a significant impact on the demand for state correctional resources. In fiscal year 2016, 53 individuals were arrested, 11 were placed under felony community supervision, and 10 were admitted into state correctional institutions for the offense of aggravated perjury under existing statute.