H. B. 2763
(By Delegates Brown, Smith, Kessel, Spencer,
Farris, Sorah and Rutledge)
[Introduced March 29, 1993; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary.]
A BILL to amend and reenact sections fifteen and thirty-two,
article two, chapter three of the code of West Virginia, one
thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to
the storage and retrieval of records on electronic media in
the voter's registration section of the county clerk's
office.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That sections fifteen and thirty-two, article two, chapter
three of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred
thirty-one, as amended, be amended and reenacted to read as
follows:
ARTICLE 2. REGISTRATION OF VOTERS.
§3-2-15. Registration record files; electronic storage.
(a) The registration records to be used in county-state
elections shall be kept in a separate file and arranged according
to precinct, street and sequence of house, apartment or room
numbers, where possible. A duplicate set of these registrationrecords shall be made and kept in a separate file, and shall be
arranged in alphabetical order. Such file shall herein be
referred to as the "alphabet file."
(b) The registration records to be used in municipal
elections shall be kept in a separate file and arranged, where
possible, according to precinct, street and sequence of house,
apartment or room numbers.
(c) In any case where the county magisterial district and
municipal precinct lines coincide in such manner that all the
registrants entitled to vote in any county-state election and the
registrants entitled to vote in any municipal election in any
precinct are the same it shall not be necessary for the registrar
to maintain a separate record for municipal elections, unless the
governing body of the municipality demands it by formal notice
directed to the county court, and offers to defray the expense of
maintaining such duplicate set of registration lists.
(d) The registration records to be used in any election may
be kept by the use of a microphotographic film or electronic
storage media record of all documents required to be permanently
preserved under the provisions of this section, together with an
index and a mechanical or electronic device by which such
microphotographic film or electronic storage media record may be
conveniently examined. The clerk of the county commission shall
promptly seal and store at least one original of each
microphotographic film or electronic storage media record in such
manner and place as will reasonably assure its preservationindefinitely against loss, theft, defacement, intentional
alteration, fire or other destruction. Any electronic method
used must provide an exact copy of each document so stored and
must be secure to the point that an attempt to alter a document
is readily recognized.
A photographic reproduction or electronic media reproduction
of any of the records described in this section, the negative or
film or electronic record of which has been certified by the
clerk in charge of such reproduction as being an exact replica of
the original, shall be received in evidence in all courts, and in
hearings before any officer, board or commission having
jurisdiction or authority to conduct such hearings, in like
manner as the original.
§3-2-32. Preparation and furnishing of precinct registration
lists.
Prior to any election the clerk of the county court
commission shall, upon request, prepare lists which may be
photostated, typed, printed, or mimeographed or stored on
computer disk, diskette, tape or other electronic media at the
discretion of such the clerk. Such The lists shall contain exact
copies of the names, addresses and political affiliation of the
registered voters in the order of their arrangement in the
respective county or municipal precinct registration files. Such
The copies shall be known as the "precinct registration lists."
Any person, municipality, corporation, or other entity may
obtain copies of precinct registration lists containing the name,address and political affiliation of each registered voter in
such the precinct from the clerk of the county court commission,
who shall charge a fee of one cent per name furnished. The clerk
shall furnish to any person, municipality, corporation or other
entity the records arranged in any manner requested if the
records requested are stored on a computer disk, diskette, tape
or other electronic media at a fee of one cent per name
furnished. The fees received by the clerk of the county court
commission shall be kept in a separate fund under his supervision
for the purpose of defraying the cost of the preparation of the
precinct lists. Any unexpended balance in the fund shall be
transferred to the general fund of the county court commission.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to permit the storage of
records in the voter's registration section of the county clerk's
office on electronic media and to permit the charge of one cent
per name furnished by that office when requested.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.