House Bill 574, filed Nov. 16, relates to preventing election fraud.
According to the proposed bill, it would be considered a second-degree felony, not a misdemeanor, for a person to knowingly commit election fraud.
Under the bill’s language, election fraud would be influencing a person’s vote in the presence of the ballot or during the voting process; causing a voter to become registered, a ballot to be obtained or a vote to be cast under false pretenses; counting invalid votes or altering a report to include invalid votes; or causing any intentionally misleading information to be provided to an election official or on an application for ballot by mail.
If passed, the act would take effect Sept. 1.
The 87th legislative session begins in January and ends in May.
