Alaska 2023 2023-2024 Regular Session

Alaska House Bill HB129 Comm Sub / Bill

Filed 05/15/2024

                     
HB0129F -1- SCS CSHB 129(FIN) am S 
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SENATE CS FOR CS FOR HOUSE BILL NO. 129(FIN) am S 
 
IN THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA 
 
THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE - SECOND SESSION 
 
BY THE SENATE FINANCE COMMITTEE 
 
Amended:  5/15/24 
Offered:  5/14/24 
 
Sponsor(s):   HOUSE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE 
A BILL 
 
FOR AN ACT ENTITLED 
 
"An Act relating to elections; relating to voter registration; relating to candidate legal 1 
funds; relating to voting; relating to special needs voting; relating to absentee voting; 2 
relating to defamation claims based on the use of synthetic media; relating to the use of 3 
synthetic media in electioneering communications; and providing for an effective date." 4 
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 5 
   * Section 1. AS 09.65 is amended by adding a new section to read: 6 
Sec. 09.65.360. Civil liability for defamation of a candidate based on synthetic 7 
media. An action for defamation based on the use of synthetic media is a claim for 8 
defamation brought by a candidate per se. In this section, (1) "candidate" has the meaning 9 
given in AS 15.13.400; 10 
(2) "synthetic media" has the meaning given in AS 15.80.009(g). 11 
   * Sec. 2. AS 15.07.130(a) is amended to read: 12 
(a) Periodically, at times of the director's choosing, but not [NO] less 
13 
frequently than in January of each calendar year, the director shall examine the master 14    33-LS0668\Y.A 
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register maintained under AS 15.07.120 and shall send, by forwardable 1 
[NONFORWARDABLE] mail to the voter's registration mailing address, and to the 2 
voter's electronic mail address, if available, a notice requesting address 3 
confirmation or correction. The notice must explain that the voter's registration 4 
will be inactivated unless the voter responds to the notice within 45 days after the 5 
date the notice is sent. The director shall send the notice to each voter  6 
(1)  whose mail from the division has been returned to the division in 7 
the two years immediately preceding the examination of the register;  8 
(2)  who has not contacted the division in the two years immediately 9 
preceding the examination of the register and [; OR (3)] who has not voted or 10 
appeared to vote in the two general elections immediately preceding the examination 11 
of the register; or 12 
(3)  who the division has learned, after registering to vote in this 13 
state and in the two years immediately preceding the examination of the register, 14 
has  15 
(A)  registered to vote in another state;  16 
(B)  received a driver's license from another state; 17 
(C)  served on a jury in another state; 18 
(D)  received benefits under a claim of residency in another 19 
state, territory, or country; or 20 
(E) established residence in another state, territory, or 21 
country.  22 
   * Sec. 3. AS 15.07.130(b) is amended to read: 23 
(b)  If a registered voter does [HAS] not respond to a notice sent under (a) of 24 
this section within 45 days after the date the notice is sent, the director shall 25 
inactivate the voter's registration [, WITHIN THE PRECEDING FOUR 26 
CALENDAR YEARS, CONTACTED THE DIVISION AND HAS NEITHER 27 
VOTED NOR APPEARED TO VOTE IN A LOCAL, REGIONAL SCHOOL 28 
BOARD, PRIMARY, SPECIAL, OR GENERAL ELECTION DURING THE LAST 29 
FOUR CALENDAR YEARS AND A NOTICE SENT TO THE VOTER UNDER (a) 30 
OF THIS SECTION WAS RETURNED AS UNDELIVERABLE, THE VOTER 31    33-LS0668\Y.A 
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SHALL BE ADVISED BY A NOTICE SENT BY FORWARDABLE MAIL TO THE 1 
VOTER'S LAST KNOWN ADDRESS THAT REGISTRATION WILL BE 2 
INACTIVATED UNLESS THE VOTER RESPONDS TO THE NOTICE NO 3 
LATER THAN 45 DAYS AFTER THE DATE OF THE NOTICE SENT UNDER 4 
THIS SECTION]. The director shall maintain on the master register the name of a 5 
voter whose registration is inactivated. The director shall cancel a voter's inactive 6 
registration in accordance with the procedures set out in 42 U.S.C. 1973gg-6 (sec. 8, 7 
National Voter Registration Act of 1993) after the second general election that occurs 8 
after the registration becomes inactive if the voter does not contact the division or vote 9 
or appear to vote.  10 
   * Sec. 4. AS 15.07.130(d) is amended to read: 11 
(d) The notice sent under (a) [(b)] of this section must include a postage 12 
prepaid and pre-addressed return card on which the voter may state the voter's current 13 
address. The notice must indicate  14 
(1)  that the voter should return the card not later than 45 days after the 15 
date of the notice if the voter did not change residence;  16 
(2)  that failure to return the card by the 45-day deadline could result in 17 
removal of the voter's name from the official registration list for a subsequent election;  18 
(3)  that the voter's registration will be cancelled if the voter does not 19 
contact the division during, or vote or appear to vote in an election held during, the 20 
period beginning on the date of the notice and ending on the day after the last day of 21 
the fourth calendar year that occurs after the date of notice; and  22 
(4)  how the voter can continue to be eligible to vote if the voter has 23 
changed residence.  24 
   * Sec. 5. AS 15.07.130 is amended by adding new subsections to read: 25 
(g) The division shall adopt regulations providing for regular review and 26 
updates of the master register. The regulations must provide for review of the register 27 
for data breaches, the number of registered voters compared to persons eligible to vote 28 
in the state, and the names of deceased voters, persons convicted of a felony involving 29 
moral turpitude, persons not qualified to vote under AS 15.05, and persons registered 30 
to vote in another state. The regulations may specify records and databases for use in 31    33-LS0668\Y.A 
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reviewing the master register; the records and databases may include databases 1 
sourced from governmental agencies outside the division, including the United States 2 
Postal Service national change of address database, the database of permanent fund 3 
dividend recipients, Alaska Court System databases, state motor vehicle records, 4 
records of the state programs of corrections, property and sales tax records, records of 5 
the federal social security system, municipal assessor databases, the United States 6 
Social Security Administration death index, an alien database maintained by the 7 
United States Department of Homeland Security, and jury duty records from other 8 
jurisdictions. The director may compare the master register to state welfare and public 9 
assistance agency databases to identify information relevant to registration to vote in 10 
state elections, including address changes, deaths, and citizenship status, and shall 11 
review the number of voters registered at each registration address to identify 12 
anomalous registration totals. 13 
(h) The director shall adopt a best practice voter registration system to 14 
improve identity matching when comparing the master register with the records and 15 
databases used to review the master register. The director shall develop a written 16 
maintenance schedule and guideline manual for the system and provide a report on the 17 
system to the senate secretary and the chief clerk of the house of representatives on or 18 
before the first day of the first regular session of each legislature and shall notify the 19 
legislature that the report is available. 20 
(i)  The director shall, in a notice sent under (a) of this section, inform a voter 21 
of the criteria to qualify as a voter and the penalties for voter misconduct. 22 
   * Sec. 6. AS 15.07 is amended by adding a new section to read: 23 
Sec. 15.07.133. Process to cancel registration. The director shall develop a 24 
process to allow a voter to cancel the voter's registration in person before an election 25 
official or electronically. The director shall prominently display instructions for a 26 
voter to cancel the voter's registration at each polling place. 27 
   * Sec. 7. AS 15.07.195 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: 28 
(e)  Unless disclosure of information related to a data breach of information 29 
made confidential by this section would compromise a criminal investigation, the 30 
director shall, not less than 30 days after discovering the breach, publish notice of the 31    33-LS0668\Y.A 
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nature and severity of the breach on the division's Internet website and report the 1 
details of the breach to the president of the senate and the speaker of the house of 2 
representatives. 3 
   * Sec. 8. AS 15.13.116(a) is amended to read: 4 
(a) A candidate who, after the date of the general, special, municipal, or 5 
municipal runoff election or after the date the candidate withdraws as a candidate, 6 
whichever comes first, holds unused campaign contributions shall distribute the 7 
amount held on February 1 for a general election or within 90 days after a special 8 
election. The distribution may only be made to  9 
(1) pay bills incurred for expenditures reasonably related to the 10 
campaign and the winding up of the affairs of the campaign, including a victory or 11 
thank you party, thank you advertisements, and thank you gifts to campaign 12 
employees and volunteers, and to pay expenditures associated with post-election fund 13 
raising that may be needed to raise funds to pay off campaign debts;  14 
(2)  make donations, without condition, to  15 
(A)  a political party;  16 
(B)  the state's general fund;  17 
(C)  a municipality of the state; or  18 
(D)  the federal government;  19 
(3) make donations, without condition, to organizations qualified as 20 
charitable organizations under 26 U.S.C. 501(c)(3) if the organization is not controlled 21 
by the candidate or a member of the candidate's immediate family;  22 
(4)  repay loans from the candidate to the candidate's own campaign 23 
under AS 15.13.078(b);  24 
(5)  repay contributions to contributors, but only if repayment of the 25 
contribution is made pro rata in approximate proportion to the contributions made 26 
using one of the following, as the candidate determines:  27 
(A)  to all contributors;  28 
(B)  to contributors who have contributed most recently; or  29 
(C)  to contributors who have made larger contributions;  30 
(6)  a legal fund established under AS 15.13.118 [ESTABLISH A 31    33-LS0668\Y.A 
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FUND FOR, AND FROM THAT FUND TO PAY, ATTORNEY FEES OR COSTS 1 
INCURRED IN THE PROSECUTION OR DEFENSE OF AN ADMINISTRATIVE 2 
OR CIVIL JUDICIAL ACTION THAT DIRECTLY CONCERNS A CHALLENGE 3 
TO THE VICTORY OR DEFEAT OF THE CANDIDATE IN THE ELECTION];  4 
(7)  transfer all or a portion of the unused campaign contributions to an 5 
account for a future election campaign; a transfer under this paragraph is limited to  6 
(A)  $50,000, if the transfer is made by a candidate for governor 7 
or lieutenant governor;  8 
(B)  $10,000, if the transfer is made by a candidate for the state 9 
senate;  10 
(C)  $5,000, if the transfer is made by a candidate for the state 11 
house of representatives; and  12 
(D)  $5,000, if the transfer is made by a candidate for an office 13 
not described in (A) - (C) of this paragraph;  14 
(8)  transfer all or a portion of the unused campaign contributions to a 15 
public office expense term account; a transfer under this paragraph is subject to the 16 
following:  17 
(A)  the authority to transfer is limited to candidates who are 18 
elected to the state legislature;  19 
(B)  the public office expense term account established under 20 
this paragraph may be used only for expenses associated with the candidate's 21 
serving as a member of the legislature;  22 
(C)  all amounts expended from the public office expense term 23 
account shall be annually accounted for under AS 15.13.110(a)(4);  24 
(D) a transfer under this paragraph is limited to $5,000 25 
multiplied by the number of years in the term to which the candidate is elected 26 
plus any accumulated interest; and  27 
(E) unused campaign contributions transferred under this 28 
paragraph must be disposed of as provided in (2), (3), or (5) of this subsection 29 
at the end of the term of office immediately following the campaign for which 30 
the contributions were received; and  31    33-LS0668\Y.A 
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(9)  transfer all or a portion of the unused campaign contributions to a 1 
municipal office account; a transfer under this paragraph is subject to the following:  2 
(A)  the authority to transfer is limited to candidates who are 3 
elected to municipal office, including a municipal school board;  4 
(B) the municipal office account established under this 5 
paragraph may be used only for expenses associated with the candidate's 6 
serving as mayor or as a member of the assembly, city council, or school 7 
board;  8 
(C) all amounts expended from the municipal office account 9 
shall be annually accounted for under AS 15.13.110(a)(4);  10 
(D)  a transfer under this paragraph is limited to $5,000; and  11 
(E) unused campaign contributions transferred under this 12 
paragraph must be disposed of as provided in (2), (3), or (5) of this subsection 13 
at the end of the term of office immediately following the campaign for which 14 
the contributions were received.  15 
   * Sec. 9. AS 15.13 is amended by adding a new section to read: 16 
Sec. 15.13.118. Legal funds. (a) A candidate for office in an election may 17 
establish a legal fund to pay attorney fees and costs incurred in connection with a 18 
recount of votes for that office under AS 15.20.510 or an election contest under 19 
AS 15.20.540 relating to that office. 20 
(b) Notwithstanding AS 15.13.074(c), a candidate may, after the election, 21 
accept donations to a legal fund. Donations to and payments from the legal fund must 22 
be reported to the commission in the manner prescribed by the commission. 23 
(c)  The balance remaining in a legal fund after allowable attorney fees and 24 
costs under (a) of this section have been paid must be disposed of as provided in 25 
AS 15.13.116(a)(2)(A) or (3). A candidate may not transfer unused donations under 26 
this section to an account for a future election campaign.  27 
   * Sec. 10. AS 15.13.390(a) is amended to read: 28 
(a)  A person who  29 
(1)  fails to register when required by AS 15.13.050(a), fails to report 30 
donations and payments when required under AS 15.13.118(b), or who fails to file 31    33-LS0668\Y.A 
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a properly completed and certified report within the time required by AS 15.13.040, 1 
15.13.060(b) - (d), 15.13.110(a)(1), (3), or (4), (e), or (f) is subject to a civil penalty of 2 
not more than $50 a day for each day the delinquency continues as determined by the 3 
commission subject to right of appeal to the superior court. A person who fails to file a 4 
properly completed and certified report within the time required by 5 
AS 15.13.110(a)(2) or 15.13.110(b) is subject to a civil penalty of not more than $500 6 
a day for each day the delinquency continues as determined by the commission subject 7 
to right of appeal to the superior court;  8 
(2) whether as a contributor or intermediary, delays in reporting a 9 
contribution as required by AS 15.13.040(r) is subject to a civil penalty of not more 10 
than $1,000 a day for each day the delinquency continues as determined by the 11 
commission subject to right of appeal to the superior court;  12 
(3) whether as a contributor or intermediary, misreports or fails to 13 
disclose the true source of a contribution in violation of AS 15.13.040(r) or 14 
15.13.074(b) is subject to a civil penalty of not more than the amount of the 15 
contribution that is the subject of the misreporting or failure to disclose; upon a 16 
showing that the violation was intentional, a civil penalty of not more than three times 17 
the amount of the contribution in violation may be imposed; these penalties as 18 
determined by the commission are subject to right of appeal to the superior court;  19 
(4)  violates a provision of this chapter, except as otherwise specified in 20 
this section, is subject to a civil penalty of not more than $50 a day for each day the 21 
violation continues as determined by the commission, subject to right of appeal to the 22 
superior court; and  23 
(5) is assessed a civil penalty may submit to the commission an 24 
affidavit stating facts in mitigation; however, the imposition of the penalties 25 
prescribed in this section or in AS 15.13.380 does not excuse that person from 26 
registering or filing reports required by this chapter. 27 
   * Sec. 11. AS 15.20.030 is amended to read: 28 
Sec. 15.20.030. Preparation of ballots, envelopes, and other material. The 29 
director shall provide ballots for use as absentee ballots in a
ll districts. The director 30 
shall provide a secrecy sleeve in which the voter shall initially place the marked ballot, 31    33-LS0668\Y.A 
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and shall provide an envelope with the prescribed voter's certificate on it, in which the 1 
secrecy sleeve with ballot enclosed shall be placed. The director shall prescribe the 2 
form of and prepare the voter's certificate, envelopes, and other material used in 3 
absentee voting. The voter's certificate shall include a declaration, for use when 4 
required, that the voter is a qualified voter in all respects, a blank for the voter's 5 
signature, a certification that the affiant properly executed the marking of the ballot 6 
and gave the voter's identity, [BLANKS FOR THE ATTESTING OFFICIAL OR 7 
WITNESS,] and a place for recording the date the envelope was sealed [AND 8 
WITNESSED]. The envelope with the voter's certificate must include a notice that 9 
false statements made by the voter [OR BY THE ATTESTING OFFICIA L OR 10 
WITNESS] on the certificate are punishable by law. 11 
   * Sec. 12. AS 15.20.072 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: 12 
(h)  If a voter satisfies the requirements of (d) of this section, the division may 13 
not reject a voter's special needs ballot based on an error by an election official or 14 
representative on the register under (c) of this section or an error by a representative 15 
under (d) of this section. 16 
   * Sec. 13. AS 15.20.081(d) is amended to read: 17 
(d) Upon receipt of an absentee ballot by mail, the voter [, IN THE 18 
PRESENCE OF A NOTARY PUBLIC, COMMISSIONED OFFICER OF THE 19 
ARMED FORCES INCLUDING THE NATIONAL GUARD, DISTRICT JUDGE 20 
OR MAGISTRATE, UNITED STATES POSTAL OFFICIAL, REGISTRATION 21 
OFFICIAL, OR OTHER PERSON QUALIFIED TO ADMINISTER OATHS,] may 22 
proceed to mark the ballot in secret, to place the ballot in the secrecy sleeve, to place 23 
the secrecy sleeve in the envelope provided, and to sign the voter's certificate on the 24 
envelope. The [IN THE PRESENCE OF AN OFFICIAL LISTED IN THIS 25 
SUBSECTION WHO SHALL SIGN AS ATTESTING OFFICIAL AND SHALL 26 
DATE THE SIGNATURE. IF NONE OF THE OFFICIALS LISTED IN THIS 27 
SUBSECTION IS REASONABLY ACCESSIBLE, AN ABSENTEE VOTER 28 
SHALL SIGN THE VOTER'S CERTIFICATE IN THE PRESENCE OF AN 29 
INDIVIDUAL WHO IS 18 YEARS OF AGE OR OLDER, WHO SHALL SIGN AS 30 
A WITNESS AND ATTEST TO THE DATE ON WHICH THE VOTER SIGNED 31    33-LS0668\Y.A 
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THE CERTIFICATE IN THE INDIVIDUAL'S PRESENCE, AND, IN ADDITION, 1 
THE] voter shall certify, as prescribed in AS 09.63.020, under penalty of perjury, that 2 
the statements in the voter's certification are true. 3 
   * Sec. 14. AS 15.20.220(b) is amended to read: 4 
(b) The state review board shall review and count absentee ballots under 5 
AS 15.20.081(e) and (h), absentee ballots properly cured under AS 15.20.221, and 6 
questioned ballots that have been forwarded to the director and that have not been 7 
reviewed or counted by a district counting board.  8 
   * Sec. 15. AS 15.20 is amended by adding a new section to read: 9 
Sec. 15.20.221. Procedure for curing uncounted ballot. (a) If a voter's ballot 10 
is rejected because the certificate is missing a signature or the voter provided 11 
insufficient voter identification, the director shall immediately make a reasonable 12 
effort to contact the voter, explain the ballot deficiency, explain how the deficiency 13 
may be cured, and inform the voter of the deadline to cure the ballot. The director 14 
shall, within 24 hours, send a notice of deficiency by electronic mail to the voter's 15 
electronic mail address if the voter has provided an electronic mail address. If the 16 
voter has provided a telephone number, the director shall, within 24 hours, attempt to 17 
notify the voter of the deficiency by telephone call and text message. The director 18 
shall, within 48 hours, but not later than five days after election day, send a notice of 19 
deficiency by first class, nonforwardable mail to the address in the voter's registration 20 
record.  21 
(b)  A notice of deficiency must include a form for the voter to confirm that the 22 
voter returned a ballot to the division, provide a copy of a form of identification 23 
accepted by the division under AS 15.15.225(a), and provide a signature. The director 24 
shall provide a printed copy of the form with the notice of deficiency mailed to the 25 
voter. The director shall also make the form available in a format that can be 26 
completed and returned electronically. 27 
(c)  The rejected ballot of a voter who received a notice of deficiency may be 28 
counted only if 29 
(1) the voter returns the completed form sent with the notice of 30 
deficiency, the division receives the form within 14 days after election day, and the 31    33-LS0668\Y.A 
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form confirms that the voter returned a ballot to the division; 1 
(2) the voter provides a signature and includes a copy of a form of 2 
identification accepted by the division under AS 15.15.225(a); and 3 
(3)  the ballot is otherwise valid. 4 
(d) A voter's rejected ballot may not be counted and the director shall, if 5 
applicable, send copies of the signature on the voter's return envelope to the attorney 6 
general for investigation if the voter returns the form and the form indicates that the 7 
voter did not return a ballot to the division. 8 
   * Sec. 16. AS 15.80 is amended by adding a new section to read: 9 
Sec. 15.80.006. Cybersecurity. The director shall, by regulation, develop a 10 
cybersecurity program to defend the voter registration records kept by the division 11 
against cyber attacks and data breaches and enable the division to detect and recover 12 
from cyber attacks. The program must include cybersecurity training for election 13 
officials. 14 
   * Sec. 17. AS 15.80 is amended by adding a new section to read: 15 
Sec. 15.80.009. Synthetic media in electioneering communications. (a) A 16 
person may not knowingly use synthetic media in an electioneering communication 17 
with the intent to influence an election. 18 
(b) An individual who is harmed by an electioneering communication that 19 
violates this section may bring an action in the superior court to recover damages, full 20 
reasonable attorney fees, and costs from  21 
(1) the person who created the electioneering communication or 22 
retained the services of another to create the electioneering communication;  23 
(2) a person who disseminates an electioneering communication 24 
knowing that the electioneering communication includes synthetic media; or 25 
(3)  a person who removes a disclosure statement described in (d) of 26 
this section from an electioneering communication with the intent to influence an 27 
election and knowing that the electioneering communication includes synthetic media. 28 
(c) An individual who is harmed by an electioneering communication that 29 
violates this section may seek injunctive relief in the superior court to prohibit 
30 
publication of the synthetic media. 31    33-LS0668\Y.A 
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(d)  It is a defense to an action under this section that  1 
(1) the electioneering communication included the following 2 
disclosure statement: "This (image/video/audio) has been manipulated" and 3 
(A) for visual media that included other text, the text of the 4 
disclosure statement remained visible throughout the entirety of the 5 
communication, was easily readable by the average viewer, and was in a font 6 
not smaller than the largest font size of any other text that appeared in the 7 
visual component;  8 
(B) for visual media that did not include any other text, the 9 
disclosure statement was in a font size that was easily readable by the average 10 
viewer;  11 
(C) for a communication that consisted of only audio, the 12 
disclosure statement was read  13 
(i)  at the beginning of the audio, at the end of the audio, 14 
and, if the audio was longer than two minutes in duration, at intervals 15 
interspersed within the audio that occurred at least once every two 16 
minutes; and  17 
(ii)  in a clear manner and in a pitch and at a speed that 18 
was easily heard by the average listener; or 19 
(2)  the synthetic media constitutes satire or parody. 20 
(e)  An interactive computer service, Internet service provider, cloud service 21 
provider, telecommunications network, or radio or television broadcaster, including a 22 
cable or satellite television operator, programmer, or producer, is not liable under this 23 
section for hosting, publishing, or distributing an electioneering communication 24 
provided by another person. For purposes of this section, a developer of the 25 
technology used to create synthetic media that is in an electioneering communication 26 
is not the creator of the electioneering communication. This subsection does not 27 
prevent an individual from bringing an action under (b)(3) of this section for removing 28 
a disclosure statement. 29 
(f)  In this section, 30 
(1)  "access software provider" means a provider of client, server, or 31    33-LS0668\Y.A 
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other software or enabling tools that 1 
(A)  filter, screen, allow, or disallow content; 2 
(B)  pick, choose, analyze, or digest content; or 3 
(C) transmit, receive, display, forward, cache, search, subset, 4 
organize, reorganize, or translate content; 5 
(2) "artificial intelligence" means a machine-based system that, for 6 
explicit or implicit objectives, infers, from the input the system receives, how to 7 
generate outputs, including predictions, content, recommendations, and decisions that 8 
can influence physical or virtual environments, with different artificial intelligence 9 
systems varying in levels of autonomy and adaptiveness after deployment; 10 
(3)  "electioneering communication" means a communication that  11 
(A) directly or indirectly identifies a candidate or political 12 
party; 13 
(B) is disseminated through a mailing, a newspaper, the 14 
Internet, or broadcast media, including radio, television, cable, or satellite, to 15 
an audience that includes voters who will have the opportunity to vote on a 16 
candidate identified in the communication or on a candidate of a party 17 
identified in the communication; and 18 
(C)  when read as a whole and with limited reference to outside 19 
events, is susceptible of no other reasonable interpretation but as an 20 
exhortation to vote for or against a specific candidate; 21 
(4) "interactive computer service" means an information service, 22 
system, or access software provider that provides or enables computer access by 23 
multiple users to a computer server, including specifically a service or system that 24 
provides access to the Internet and such systems operated or services offered by 25 
libraries or educational institutions; 26 
(5)  "synthetic media"  27 
(A)  means an image, audio recording, or video recording of an 28 
individual's appearance, speech, or conduct that is manipulated by artificial 29 
intelligence in a manner that creates a realistic but false image, audio 30 
recording, or video recording and produces 31    33-LS0668\Y.A 
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(i)  a depiction that a reasonable person would believe is 1 
of a real individual in appearance, speech, or conduct but did not 2 
actually occur in reality; and 3 
(ii)  a materially different understanding or impression 4 
than a reasonable person would have from the unaltered, original 5 
version of the image, audio recording, or video recording;  6 
(B) does not include an image, audio recording, or video 7 
recording that is minimally edited, adjusted, or enhanced by artificial 8 
intelligence without materially altering how the meaning or significance of the 9 
depiction would be perceived by a reasonable person. 10 
   * Sec. 18. AS 24.60.080(e) is amended to read: 11 
(e)  A political contribution is not a gift under this section if it is reported under 12 
AS 15.13.040 or is exempt from the reporting requirement under AS 15.13.040(g). A 13 
donation to a legal fund under AS 15.13.118 is not a gift under this section if it is 14 
reported under AS 15.13.118(b). The use of a bulk mailing permit owned by a 15 
legislator's campaign committee or used in a legislator's election campaign is not a gift 16 
to that legislator under this section.  17 
   * Sec. 19. AS 39.52.130(d) is amended to read: 18 
(d)  The restrictions relating to gifts imposed by this section do not apply to a 19 
campaign contribution to a candidate for elective office or a donation to a legal fund 20 
under AS 15.13.118 if the contribution or donation complies with laws and 21 
regulations governing elections and campaign disclosure. 22 
   * Sec. 20. AS 15.20.203(b)(2) and 15.20.203(b)(3) are repealed. 23 
   * Sec. 21. Sections 1, 8 - 10, and 17 - 19 of this Act take effect immediately under 24 
AS 01.10.070(c). 25 
   * Sec. 22. Sections 2 - 6 and 16 of this Act take effect July 1, 2025. 26 
   * Sec. 23. Except as provided in sections 21 and 22 of this Act, this Act takes effect July 1, 27 
2024. 28