A bill to allow legislative oversight in selecting new voting machines advanced through the Senate and Governmental Affairs Committee yesterday.
The bill is authored by Senator Sharon Hewitt of Slidell. It establishes a Voting System Technology Commission to review voting systems and a proposal review commission to make recommendations to the secretary of state.
Current law allows the secretary of state to establish rules relating to the preparation and use of voting systems. It also states that the secretary of state is responsible for the procurement of new voting systems. The proposed bill requires these duties to be carried out in coordination with the new commissions.
Secretary of State Kyle Ardoin said he still had some questions about how exactly the process would work. But he promised to work with Hewitt, the committee chairwoman, on improving the legislation as it moves forward, and the committee’s action seemed to be a step toward settling an earlier disagreement about how the Legislature would oversee his efforts to buy new voting machines for the state.
