Based on several complaints, Zwonitzer said the committee wanted to address instances such as people voting in multiple precincts, which he called “precinct jumping.”

“It’s tough to investigate if you own more than one property, then switch registration back and forth and it’s not a clear violation of the law,” he said.

Byrd said he thinks there are other ways to address those sorts of problems, such as using technology that tracks whether people have voted in other precincts across the state and purges people from voting rolls for violations. Additionally, he said the people who would suffer the worst penalties would be the poor without resources for crafty legal defense.

“Say you’re from Maine, where you can vote as a felon,” Byrd said in a hypothetical scenario. “You move to Wyoming, and you register to vote, and now you’ve committed another felony. The guy’s defense is, ‘I didn’t know – I voted in Maine,’ but he doesn’t have the financial resources to defend himself. Then the guy who has three houses in different counties just throws cash at it. It will just be a speed bump between coffee and lunch.

“I understand we need to do something for people who intend to defraud the voting system willfully, but this is not it.”