Senate Bill No. 617
(By Senators Kessler, Edgell, Minard, Hunter and Foster)
____________
[Introduced February 16, 2007; referred to the Committee on the
Judiciary; and then to the Committee on Finance.]
____________
A BILL to amend and reenact §3-2-4a, §3-2-5, §3-2-6, §3-2-11,
§3-2-13 and §3-2-30 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as
amended, all relating to voter registration; providing for the
voting history of a voter on the statewide registration
system; providing that agencies may not withhold information
for statewide voter registration system without a court order;
allowing for Division of Motor Vehicles' identification card
in lieu of driver's license for voter registration purposes;
providing that the voter has four business days to correct
errors on voter registration card; authorizing the Department
of Revenue to provide a check box for voter registration
interest; requiring voting coordinators to receive training;
removing provisions requiring manual voter registration lists
by county clerks in lieu of electronic files; requiring county
clerk to provide a copy of voter registration list availability policy to the Secretary of State's office; and
modifying the cost of purchasing the voter registration list.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §3-2-4a, §3-2-5, §3-2-6, §3-2-11, §3-2-13 and §3-2-30 of
the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended and
reenacted, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 2. REGISTRATION OF VOTERS.
§3-2-4a. Statewide voter registration list.
(a) The Secretary of State shall implement and maintain a
single, official, statewide, centralized, interactive computerized
voter registration list of every legally registered voter in the
state
and shall assign a unique voter registration identifier to
each legally registered voter in the state, which shall include the
following:
(1) The computerized list shall serve as the single system for
storing and managing the official list of registered voters
throughout the state.
(2) The computerized list shall contain the name
, and
registration information,
and voter history of every legally
registered voter in the state.
(3) Under the computerized list,
the Secretary of State shall
assign a unique identifier
shall be assigned to each legally
registered voter in the state.(4) The computerized list shall be coordinated with other
agency databases within the state.
(5) The Secretary of State and any clerk of the county
commission may obtain immediate electronic access to the
information contained in the computerized list.
(6)
The clerk of the county commission shall electronically
enter voter registration information
obtained by every clerk of the
county commission in the state shall be electronically entered into
the computerized list on an expedited basis at the time the
information is provided to the clerk.
(7) The Secretary of State shall provide necessary support to
enable every clerk of the county commission in the state to enter
information as described in subdivision (6) of this subsection.
(8) The computerized list shall serve as the official voter
registration list for conducting all elections in the state.
(b) The Secretary of State or any clerk of a county commission
shall perform
list maintenance with respect to the computerized
list on a regular basis as follows:
(1) If an individual is to be removed from the computerized
list, he or she shall be removed in accordance with the provisions
of 42 U.S.C. §1973gg,
et seq., the National Voter Registration Act
of 1993.
(2) The Secretary of State shall coordinate the computerized
list with state agency records and remove the names of individuals who are not qualified to vote because of felony status or death:
Provided, That no state agency may withhold information regarding
a voter's status as deceased or as a felon unless so ordered by a
court of law.
(c) The list maintenance performed under subsection (b) of
this section shall be conducted in a manner that ensures that:
(1) The name of each registered voter appears in the
computerized list;
(2) Only voters who are not registered or who are not eligible
to vote are removed from the computerized list; and
(3) Duplicate names are eliminated from the computerized list.
(d) The Secretary of State and the clerks of all county
commissions shall provide adequate technological security measures
to prevent the unauthorized access to the computerized list
established under this section.
(e) The Secretary of State shall ensure that voter
registration records in the state are accurate and updated
regularly, including the following:
(1) A system of file maintenance that makes a reasonable
effort to remove registrants who are ineligible to vote from the
official list of eligible voters. Under the system, consistent with
42 U.S.C. §1973gg,
et seq., registrants who have not responded to
a notice sent pursuant to section twenty-four, article three of
this chapter and who have not voted in two consecutive general elections for federal office shall be removed from the official
list of eligible voters, except that no registrant may be removed
solely by reason of a failure to vote.
(2) Safeguards to ensure that eligible voters are not removed
in error from the official list of eligible voters.
(f) Applications for voter registration may only be accepted
when the following information is provided:
(1) Except as provided in subdivision (2) of this subsection,
and notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, an
application for voter registration may not be accepted or processed
unless the application includes
either:
(A) In the case of an applicant who has been issued a current
and valid driver's license, the applicant's driver's license
number; or
(B) In the case of an applicant who has been issued an
identification card by the Division of Motor Vehicles, the
applicant's identification number; or
(C) In the case of any other applicant, the last four digits
of the applicant's social security number.
(2) If an applicant for voter registration has not been issued
a current and valid driver's license,
Division of Motor Vehicles
identification card or a social security number, the Secretary of
State shall assign the applicant a number which will serve to
identify the applicant for voter registration purposes. To the extent that the state has a computerized list in effect under this
section and the list assigns unique identifying numbers to
registrants, the number assigned under this section shall be the
unique identifying number assigned under the list.
(g) The Secretary of State and the Commissioner of the
Division of Motor Vehicles shall enter into an agreement to match
and transfer applicable information in the database of the
statewide voter registration system with information in the
database of the Division of Motor Vehicles to the extent required
to enable each official to verify the accuracy of the information
provided on applications for voter registration.
(h) The Commissioner of the Division of Motor Vehicles shall
enter into an agreement with the Commissioner of Social Security
under 42 U.S.C. §301,
et seq., the Social Security Act.
All fees
associated with this agreement shall be paid for by the fund
created under section twelve, article two of this chapter.
§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 applicant's driver's license number or
an
identification number issued by the Division of Motor Vehicles. If
the applicant does not have a driver's license
or an identification
card issued by the Division of Motor Vehicles, then the last four
digits of the applicant's social security 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 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.
(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.
§3-2-6. Time of registration application before an election.
(a) Voter registration before an election shall close on the
twenty-first day before the election, or on the first day
thereafter which is not a Saturday, Sunday or legal holiday.
(b) An application for voter registration, transfer of
registration, change of name or change of political party
affiliation submitted by an eligible voter by the close of voter
registration shall be effective for any subsequent primary, general
or special election if the following conditions are met:
(1) The application contains the
required information
as set
forth in required by subsection (c), section five of this article:
Provided, That incomplete applications for registration containing
information which are submitted within the required time may be
corrected within four
business days after the close of registration
if the applicant provides the required information; and
(2) The application is received by the appropriate clerk of
the county commission no later than the hour of the close of
registration or is otherwise submitted by the following deadlines:
(A) If mailed, the application shall be addressed to the
appropriate clerk of the county commission and
is postmarked by the
postal service no later than the date of the close of registration:
Provided, That if the postmark is missing or illegible, the
application shall be presumed to have been mailed no later than the
close of registration if it is received by the appropriate clerk of
the county commission no later than the third day following the
close of registration;
(B) If accepted by a designated agency or motor vehicle
licensing office, the application
shall be is received by that
agency or office no later than the close of registration;
(C) If accepted through a registration outreach program, the
application
shall be is received by the clerk, deputy clerk or
registrar no later than the close of registration; and
(3) The verification notice
required by the provisions of
section sixteen of this article mailed to the voter at the
residence indicated on the application is not returned as
undeliverable.
§3-2-11. Registration in conjunction with driver 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 any other division or
department
as that may be established by law to perform motor
vehicle driver licensing services, shall provide each qualified
voter registrant, 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.
(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 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 may
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 at the time of
applying for, obtaining, renewing or transferring his or her
driver's license or official identification card 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 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 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 shall be forwarded to the Secretary of State
within five days of receipt,
unless other means are available for
a more expedited transmission. 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
unsigned shall be collected and maintained for two years according
to procedural rules promulgated by the Secretary of State.
§3-2-13. Agencies to provide voter registration services;
designation of responsible employees; forms;
prohibitions; confidentiality.
(a) For the purposes of this article, "agency" means a
department, division or office of state or local government, or a
program supported by state funds, which is designated under this
section to provide voter registration services, but does not
include departments, divisions or offices required by other
sections of this article to provide voter registration services.
(b) Beginning on the first day of January, one thousand nine
hundred ninety-five, the following agencies shall provide voter
registration services pursuant to the provisions of this article:
(1) Those state agencies which administer or provide services
under the food stamp program, the "Aid to Families with Dependent
Children" (AFDC) program, the "Women, Infants and Children" (WIC)
program and the medicaid program;(2) Those state-funded agencies primarily engaged in providing
services to persons with disabilities;
(3) County marriage license offices;
and
(4) Armed services recruitment offices, as required by federal
law;
and
(5) The Department of Revenue, if it provides a check box on
any form provided to the general public authorizing the Department
of Revenue to request a voter registration application by mail from
the Secretary of State on behalf of the applicant.
(c) No later than the first day of October, one thousand nine
hundred ninety-four, the Secretary of State shall, in conjunction
with a designated representative of each of the appropriate state
agencies, review those programs and offices established and
operating with state funds which administer or provide public
assistance or services to persons with disabilities and shall
promulgate an emergency rule pursuant to the provisions of chapter
twenty-nine-a of this code designating the specific programs and
offices required to provide voter registration services in order to
comply with the requirements of this section and the requirements
of the "National Voter Registration Act of 1993" (42 U.S.C.
§1973gg,
et seq.). The offices and programs so designated shall
begin providing voter registration services on the first day of
January, one thousand nine hundred ninety-five.
(d) No later than the first day of July, one thousand nine
hundred ninety-six, and each even-numbered year thereafter, the
Secretary of State shall, in conjunction with the designated
representatives of the appropriate state agencies, perform the
review as required by the provisions of subsection (c) of this
section. The Secretary of State shall periodically review and
revise, if necessary, the legislative rule designating the specific
agencies required to provide voter registration services.
(e) Each state agency required to provide services pursuant to
the provisions of this article shall designate a current employee
of that agency to serve as a state supervisor to administer voter
registration services required in all programs under the agency's
jurisdiction. Each state supervisor shall be responsible for
coordination with the Secretary of State, overall operation of the
program in conjunction with services within the agency, designation
and supervision of local coordinators and for the review of any
complaints filed against employees relating to voter registration
as provided in this chapter.
(f) The state supervisor shall designate a current employee as
a local coordinator for voter registration services for each office
or program delivery center who shall be responsible for the proper
conduct of voter registration services, timely return of completed
voter registration applications, proper handling of declinations
and reporting requirements. Notice of the designation of these persons shall be made upon request of the Secretary of State and
within five days following any change of designation.
Each local
coordinator shall receive biannual training provided by the
Secretary of State.
(g) The registration application forms used for agency
registration shall be issued pursuant to the provisions of section
five of this article.
(h) The Secretary of State, in conjunction with those agencies
designated to provide voter registration services pursuant to the
provisions of this section, shall prescribe the form or portion of
the appropriate agency form required by the provisions of 42 U.S.
C. §1973gg,
et seq., section 7(a)(6)(B) of the "National Voter
Registration Act of 1993", containing the required notices and
providing boxes for the applicant to check to indicate whether the
applicant would like to register or decline to register to vote.
The form or portion of the form is designated the "declination
form".
(i) A person who provides voter registration services
shall
may not:
(1) Seek to influence an applicant's political preference or
party registration;
(2) Display to any applicant any political preference or party
allegiance;
(3) Make any statement to an applicant or take any action the
purpose or effect of which is to discourage the applicant from
registering to vote; or
(4) Make any statement to an applicant or take any action the
purpose or effect of which is to lead the applicant to believe that
a decision to register or not to register has any bearing on the
availability of services or benefits.
(j) No information relating to the identity of a voter
registration agency through which any particular voter is
registered or to a declination to register to vote in connection
with an application made at any designated agency may be used for
any purpose other than voter registration.
§3-2-30. Public inspection of voter registration records in the
office of the clerk of the county commission; providing
voter lists for noncommercial use; prohibition against
resale of voter lists for commercial use or profit.
(a) The active, inactive, rejected and canceled voter
registration records shall be made available for public inspection
during office hours of the clerk of the county commission in
accordance with the provisions of chapter twenty-nine-b of this
code as follows:
(1) When the active and inactive files are maintained on
precinct registration books, any person shall be allowed to examine
these files under the supervision of the clerk and obtain copies of records except when a precinct book is in temporary use for
updating and preparing lists or during the time the books are
sealed for use in an election. Other original voter registration
records, including canceled voter records, pending applications,
rejected applications, records of change requests, reinstatements
and other documents, shall be available for inspection upon
specific request;
(2) When the active, inactive, rejected and canceled voter
files are maintained in data format, any person shall be allowed to
examine voter record information in printed form or in a read-only
data format on a computer terminal set aside for public use, if
available. The data files available shall include all registration
and voting information maintained in the file, except that the
telephone number and social security number of any voter shall not
be available for inspection or copying in any format.
(b) Printed lists of registered voters may be purchased for
noncommercial use from the clerk of the county commission at a cost
of one cent per name.
(1) In counties maintaining active and inactive files on
precinct registration books only, a separate list for each of the
two major political parties and for voters registered independent
or other affiliation shall be prepared for each precinct. The lists
shall be arranged in alphabetical order or street order, as the
books are maintained, and shall include the name, residence address and party affiliation of the voter, along with a designation of
inactive status where applicable. The lists shall be prepared prior
to the primary election and the clerk shall not be required to
supplement or revise those lists as registrations are added or
canceled.
(2) (c) In counties maintaining active and inactive files in
digitized data format, the clerk of the county commission shall,
upon request, prepare printed copies of the lists of voters for
each precinct. No list prepared under this section may include the
telephone number or social security number of the registrant. The
clerk shall establish a written policy, which shall be posted
within public view, listing the options which may be requested for
selection and sorting criteria and available data elements, which
shall include at least the name, residence address, political party
affiliation and status and the format of the lists and the times at
which lists will be prepared. A copy of the policy shall be filed
with the Secretary of State no later than the first day of January
,
one thousand nine hundred ninety-five, and within thirty days after
any change in policy of each even-numbered year.
(c) (d) In counties which maintain voter files in a digitized
data format, lists of registered voters may be obtained for
noncommercial purposes in data format on disk provided and prepared
by the clerk of the county commission at a cost of one cent per
name plus ten dollars for each disk required. No data file prepared under this subsection may include the telephone number or
social security number of the registrant.
(d) (e) The fees received by the clerk of the county
commission shall be kept in a separate fund under the supervision
of the clerk for the purpose of defraying the cost of the
preparation of the voter lists. Any unexpended balance in the fund
shall be transferred to the general fund of the county commission.
(e) (f) After the implementation of the state uniform voter
data system, The Secretary of State may make voter lists available
for sale subject to the limitations as provided in this section for
counties.
except that The cost
for a partial list shall be one and
one-half cents per name plus ten dollars for each disk required;
the cost for a complete statewide list shall be one-half cent per
name and a flat fee of one thousand dollars. One cent per name for
each voter from a particular county on each
partial list,
and
one-half cent per name for each voter from a particular county on
each statewide list sold shall be reimbursed to the appropriate
county.
and The disk fee and one-half cent per name
associated with
a partial list and the flat fee of one thousand dollars associated
with a complete statewide list shall be deposited to a special
account for purpose of defraying the cost of the preparation of the
lists.
(g) An update to a previously purchased list may be provided
by the Secretary of State or the clerk of the county commission at a prorate cost based on the amount of additional information
provided. The additional rates charged by the clerk of the county
commission must be specified in the policy established pursuant to
subsection (b) of this section.
(f) (h) No voter registration lists or data files containing
the names, addresses or other information relating to voters
derived from voter data files obtained pursuant to the provisions
of this article may be used for commercial or charitable
solicitations or advertising, sold or reproduced for resale.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to require certain
information be maintained on the statewide voter registration
list; require disclosure of information on the statewide voter
registration list; allow for additional forms of identification to
be used for voter registration; authorize the Department of Revenue
to provide a check box for voter registration; modify the cost of
the voter registration list; and other technical changes regarding
voter registration.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.