TO:	Honorable Bryan Hughes, Chair, Senate Committee on State Affairs
FROM:	Jerry McGinty, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:	SB1 by Hughes (relating to election integrity and security, including by preventing fraud in the conduct of elections in this state; increasing criminal penalties; creating criminal offenses; providing civil penalties.), Committee Report 1st House, Substituted

The provisions of the bill addressing felony sanctions are the subject of this analysis.  The bill would amend various codes as they relate to election integrity and security, including by preventing fraud in the conduct of elections.  Under the provisions of the bill, several newly created election fraud-related criminal offenses would be punishable at the felony and misdemeanor level with the level and degree of punishment based on the specific circumstances of the offense.

Creating an offense for which a criminal penalty is applied is expected to result in additional demands upon the correctional resources of counties or of the State due to an increase in the number of individuals placed under supervision in the community or sentenced to a term of confinement within state correctional institutions.  In fiscal years 2018 through 2020 there were a total of 45 arrests for election-related offenses; there were fewer than ten individuals in each fiscal year who were placed onto community supervision; and there were fewer than ten individuals in each fiscal year who were admitted into a state correctional institution for election-related offenses.  This analysis assumes implementing the provisions of the bill addressing felony sanctions would not result in a significant impact on state correctional populations or on the demand for state correctional resources.