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Bill

SF 184

Prohibition on electronic voting equipment-2.

2025 Regular Session Introduced by Bob Ide and 4 co-sponsors

Eliminates electronic voting machines and pollbooks; requires uniform paper ballots hand-counted with audits, counting centers, and rulemaking—affects counties, voters, vendors.

S:Died in Committee Returned Bill Pursuant to SR 5-4
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WeVote Research Nonpartisan
Bill Summary · SF 184

Summary — SF 184: Prohibition on electronic voting equipment‑2

Status: Introduced Feb 3, 2025; S:Died in Committee Returned Bill Pursuant to SR 5‑4 (3/3/2025)

Sponsors (from bill header): Senator(s) Smith (D), Ide, Laursen (D); Representative(s) Lucas, Smith (S). (Additional sponsor metadata was provided; primary bill text identifies the sponsors above.)

Main purpose / intent

The bill would eliminate the use of electronic voting machines and electronic pollbooks in elections and require paper ballots counted by hand. It establishes statutory definitions and procedures to govern paper ballot design, hand‑counting, recounts/retabulations, post‑election audits, testing and certification of hand‑counting/tabulation/reporting systems, observer access, penalties, and rulemaking authority to implement these changes.

Key provisions and changes

  • Paper ballots required: All official ballots must be paper, uniformly sized, printed in black ink on opaque paper, and formatted to facilitate hand tabulation.
  • Prohibition on electronic pollbooks: The bill bars use of electronic pollbooks in polling places (counties may still use electronic systems to prepare pollbooks in advance).
  • Ban on certain ballot markings: Ballots may not include unreadable barcodes or QR codes that cannot be deciphered by human election workers.
  • Definitions added/modified: Introduces or revises terms such as “tabulating equipment” (explicitly excluding equipment that can connect to communications/internet or automatically examine and tabulate votes), “counting board,” “canvassing board,” “recount,” “retabulation,” “vote center,” and “ballot card box.”
  • Hand counting and counting centers: Establishes counting centers and requires hand counting of paper ballots by appointed counting boards; describes processes for retabulation and recounts using the hand‑tabulation system.
  • Post‑election audit: Revises audit procedures to align with a hand‑counting regime (full text truncated in provided document but indicates audit process changes).
  • Testing and certification: Provides for testing of hand counting, tabulating and reporting systems prior to use.
  • Observers and penalties: Specifies election observer access and creates penalties for violations (details to be worked out in bill provisions and rules).
  • Repeals/conforming amendments: Repeals or amends statutory provisions that authorize electronic voting machines and related electronic pollbook usage; makes conforming statutory changes.
  • Rulemaking and effective date: Authorizes rulemaking to implement the act; at least one excerpt specifies an effective date “upon enactment.”

Who would be affected

  • County election offices and county clerks (operations, procedures, training)
  • Election judges and counting boards (increased manual counting duties)
  • Voters (potential changes to voting experience and accessibility accommodations)
  • Vendors of electronic voting machines and electronic pollbooks (loss of state market)
  • Secretary of State and other statewide election administrators (policy, testing, oversight)

Fiscal and administrative impact

  • Fiscal note (25LSO‑0737): The bill would increase duties/responsibilities of state agencies and could affect agency spending or staffing; as introduced it did not modify any state agency budget or personnel authorizations. The Secretary of State’s Office was asked to provide a detailed administrative fiscal estimate before committee consideration.

Procedural/timeline aspects

  • Introduced/assigned SF 184 (Jan–Feb 2025). Referred to relevant committees; no committee report prior to cutoff. The bill died in committee and was returned pursuant to Senate rule SR 5‑4 on March 3, 2025.

Practical considerations

  • Transition costs and operational logistics (more staff/time for hand counts, training, secure paper ballot production, chain‑of‑custody procedures) would be primary implementation challenges.
  • Accessibility requirements for voters with disabilities would need clear accommodations under a paper‑ballot, hand‑count system; the bill references accessible ballots but specifics would need rulemaking.
  • Speed of tabulation and public reporting of results could be affected depending on the scale of hand counting and audit procedures.

Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.

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