Honorable Reggie Smith, Chair, House Committee on Elections
FROM:
Jerry McGinty, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:
HB1243 by Hefner (Relating to the penalty for the offense of illegal voting; increasing a criminal penalty.), As Introduced
The bill would increase the criminal penalty for illegal voting from a Class A misdemeanor to either a state jail felony for attempted illegal voting or second degree felony for illegal voting.
Increasing the penalty for an existing offense may result in additional demands upon state and local correctional resources due to a possible increase in the number of individuals placed under supervision in the community or sentenced to a term of confinement. In fiscal year 2022, there were two individuals arrested, two individuals placed on community supervision, and no individuals admitted into a state correctional institution for illegal voting. It assumed that any impact on state correctional populations or on the demand for state correctional resources would not be significant.