Honorable Briscoe Cain, Chair, House Committee on Elections
FROM:
Jerry McGinty, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:
HB6 by Cain (Relating to election integrity and preservation of the purity of the ballot box through the prevention of fraud in the conduct of an election; increasing criminal penalties; creating criminal offenses.), As Introduced
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 the prevention of fraud in the conduct of an election. Under the provisions of the bill, several new election fraud-related criminal offenses are created punishable at the felony and misdemeanor level with the level and degree 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 the election-related offenses. There were fewer than 10 individuals admitted into a state correctional institution in fiscal year 2018, fewer than 10 in fiscal year 2019, and fewer than 10 in fiscal year 2020 for election-related offenses. Fewer than ten individuals were placed under direct community supervision in fiscal year 2018, fewer than 10 in 2019, and fewer than 10 in 2020 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.