H. B. 3122
(By Mr. Speaker, Mr. Kiss and Delegates Varner,
Williams, Crosier, Kominar, Stemple, Beane, Perry,
H. White, Michael and Campbell)
[Introduced March 22, 2005; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary.]
A BILL to amend and reenact §3-2-11 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to voter registration generally;
and providing that the Director of the Division of Natural
Resources, designated county issuers and agents shall provide
each qualified voter, as an integral and simultaneous part of
every process of application for the issuance, renewal or
change of address of any hunting or fishing license, a voter
registration application form.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §3-2-11 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 2. REGISTRATION OF VOTERS.
§3-2-11. Registration in conjunction with driver licensing and
hunting and fishing licensing.
(a) Beginning on the first day of January, one thousand nine
hundred ninety-five, the Division of Motor Vehicles and the
Department of Public Safety, or such other Division or Department
as may be established by law to perform motor vehicle driver licensing services, shall provide each qualified voter, as an
integral and simultaneous part of every process of application for
the issuance, renewal or change of address of any motor vehicle
driver's license or official identification card, pursuant to the
provisions of article two, chapter seventeen-b of this code, a
voter registration application form as prescribed in section five
of this article
and beginning the first day of January, two
thousand six, the Director of the Division of Natural Resources,
designated county issuers and agents shall provide each qualified
voter, as an integral and simultaneous part of every process of
application for the issuance, renewal or change of address of any
hunting or fishing license pursuant to the provisions of article
two, chapter twenty of this code, a voter registration application
form as prescribed in section five of this article.
(b) Any person who fails to sign the voter registration
application or who fails to return the voter registration
application to a driver licensing facility
or to an issuer of a
hunting and fishing license or to an appropriate voter registration
office shall be deemed to have declined to register. Information
regarding any person's failure to sign the voter registration
application shall be confidential and shall not be used for any
purpose other than to determine voter registration.
(c) Any qualified voter who submits the application for
registration pursuant to the provisions of subsection (a) of this
section in person at a driver licensing facility
or to an issuer of
a hunting and fishing license at the time of applying for, obtaining, renewing or transferring his or her driver's license or
official identification card
or when applying for a hunting or
fishing license and who presents identification and proof of age at
that time shall not be required to make his or her first vote in
person or to again present identification in order to make that
registration valid.
(d) Any qualified voter who submits by mail or by delivery by
a third party an application for registration on the form used in
conjunction with driver licensing
or hunting or fishing license
shall be required to make his or her first vote in person and
present identification as required for other mail registration in
accordance with the provisions of subsection (g), section ten of
this article:
Provided, That if the applicant has been previously
registered in the jurisdiction and the application is for a change
of address, change of name, change of political party affiliation
or other correction, the presentation of identification and first
vote in person shall not be required.
(e) Any application for voter registration submitted pursuant
to the provisions of this section shall be considered as updating
any previous voter registration by the applicant and shall
authorize the cancellation of registration in any other county or
state in which the applicant was previously registered.
(f) Any change of address from one residence to another within
the same county which is submitted for driver licensing purposes
or
hunting or fishing license purposes in accordance with applicable
law shall also serve as a notice of change of address for voter registration purposes unless the individual indicates on the form
that the change of address is not for voter registration purposes.
(g) Completed applications for voter registration or change of
address for voting purposes received by any office providing driver
licensing services
or any issuer of a hunting or fishing license
shall be forwarded to the Secretary of State within five days of
receipt. The Secretary of State shall remove and file any forms
which have not been signed by the applicant and shall forward
completed, signed applications to the clerk of the appropriate
county commission within five days of receipt.
(h) Voter registration application forms containing voter
information which are returned to a driver licensing office
or to
a hunting or fishing license issuer unsigned shall be collected and
maintained for two years according to procedural rules promulgated
by the Secretary of State.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide that the Director
of the Division of Natural Resources, designated county issuers and
agents shall provide each qualified voter, as an integral and
simultaneous part of every process of application for the issuance,
renewal or change of address of any hunting or fishing license, a
voter registration application form.
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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