H. B.2443
(By Delegates Staton, Amores, Campbell,
Mahan and G. White)
[Introduced February 16, 2005; Referred to the committee on the
Judiciary.]
A BILL to amend and reenact §3-2-5 of the code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, all relating to the request for an
applicant's e-mail address on application for voter
registration.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §3-2-5 of the code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be
amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 2. REGISTRATION OF VOTERS.
§3-2-5. Forms for application for registration; information
required and requested; types of application forms; notices.
(a)(1) All state forms for application for voter registration
shall be prescribed by the secretary of state and shall conform
with the requirements of 42 U.S.C. §§1973gg, et seq., the "National
Voter Registration Act of 1993" and the requirements of the
provisions of this article. Separate application forms may be
prescribed for voter registration conducted by the clerk of the
county commission, registration by mail, registration in
conjunction with an application for motor vehicle driver's license and registration at designated agencies. These forms may consist of
one or more parts, may be combined with other forms for use in
registration by designated agencies or in conjunction with driver
licensing and may be revised and reissued as required by the
secretary of state to provide for the efficient administration of
voter registration.
(2) Notwithstanding any provisions of subdivision (1) of this
subsection to the contrary, the federal postcard application for
voter registration issued pursuant to 42 U.S.C. §§1973, et seq.,
the "Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act of 1986",
and the mail voter registration application form prescribed by the
Federal Election Commission pursuant to 42 U.S.C. §§1973gg, et
seq., the "National Voter Registration Act of 1993", shall be
accepted as a valid form of application for registration pursuant
to the provisions of this article.
(b) Each application form for registration shall include:
(1) A statement specifying the eligibility requirements for
registration and an attestation that the applicant meets each
eligibility requirement;
(2) Any specific notice or notices required for a specific
type or use of application by 42 U.S.C. §§1973gg, et seq., the
"National Voter Registration Act of 1993";
(3) A notice that a voter may be permitted to vote the
partisan primary election ballot of a political party only if the
voter has designated that political party on the application for
registration unless the political party has determined otherwise;
(4) The last four digits of the applicant's social security
number or the applicant''s driver''s license number; and
(5) Any other instructions or information essential to
complete the application process.
(c) Each application form shall require that the following be
provided by the applicant, under oath, and any application which
does not contain each of the following shall be considered
incomplete:
(1) The applicant's legal name, including the first name,
middle or maiden name, if any, and last name;
(2) The month, day and year of the applicant's birth;
(3) The applicant's residence address, including the number
and street or route and city and county of residence except:
(A) In the case of a person eligible to register under the
provisions of 42 U.S.C. §§1973ff, et seq., the "Uniformed and
Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act", the address at which he or
she last resided before leaving the United States or entering the
uniformed services, or if a dependent child of such a person, the
address at which his or her parent last resided; and
(B) In the case of a homeless person having no fixed residence
address who nevertheless resides and remains regularly within the
county, the address of a shelter, assistance center or family
member with whom he or she has regular contact or other specific
location approved by the clerk of the county commission for the
purposes of establishing a voting residence; and
(4) The applicant's signature, under penalty of perjury, as provided in section thirty-six of this article to the attestation
of eligibility to register to vote and to the truth of the
information given.
(d) The applicant shall be requested
, but not required, to
provide the following information
, but no application shall be
rejected for lack of this information:
(1) An indication whether the application is for a new
registration, change of address, change of name or change of party
affiliation;
(2) The applicant's choice of political party affiliation, if
any, or an indication of no affiliation: Provided, That any
applicant who does not enter any choice of political party
affiliation shall be listed as having no party affiliation on the
voting record;
(3) The applicant's residence mailing address if different
than the residence street address;
(4) The last four digits of the applicant''s social security
number;
(5) The applicant''s telephone number;
(6) The address at which the applicant was last registered to
vote, if any, for the purpose of canceling or transferring the
previous registration
; and
(7) The applicant's gender
; and
(8) The applicant's e-mail address:
Provided, That no application shall be rejected for failure to provide this information.
(e) The secretary of state shall prescribe the printing
specifications of each type of voter registration application and
the voter registration application portion of any form which is
part of a combined agency form.
(f) Application forms prescribed in this section may refer to
various public officials by title or official position, but in no
case may the actual name of any officeholder be printed on the
voter registration application or on any portion of a combined
application form.
(g) No later than the first day of July of each odd-numbered
year the secretary of state shall submit the specifications of the
voter registration application by mail for statewide bidding for a
contract period beginning the first day of September of each
odd-numbered year and continuing for two calendar years. The
successful bidder shall produce and supply the required mail voter
registration forms at the contract price to all purchasers of the
form for the period of the contract.
Note: This bill provides that voter registration forms
request, but not require, the applicant to provide his or her email
address.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.
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