77666 Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 247 / Tuesday, December 24, 2013 / Notices 

ELECTION ASSISTANCE COMMISSION 

Notice and Request for Public 

Comment on State Requests To 

Include Additional Proof-of-Citizenship 

Instructions on the National Mail Voter 

Registration Form 

AGENCY: U.S. Election Assistance 

Commission (EAC). 

ACTION: Notice for Public Comment. 

SUMMARY: The United States Election 

Assistance Commission (‘‘EAC’’) seeks 

public comment on whether to amend 

the State-specific instructions 

applicable to Arizona, Kansas, and 

Georgia on the National Mail Voter 

Registration Form (‘‘Federal Form’’). 

Those States have requested that the 

EAC modify their State-specific 

instructions on the Federal Form to 

include State law requirements that, as 

a precondition to registering to vote in 

Federal elections, voter registration 

applicants provide additional proof of 

their United States citizenship beyond 

that already required by the Federal 

Form. EAC is voluntarily soliciting 

public comment on these requests from 

Arizona, Kansas, and Georgia. 

DATES: Comments must be in writing 

and must be submitted no later than 

5:00 p.m. EST on January 3, 2014. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, 

identified by docket number EAC– 

2013–0004 and title, by any of the 

following methods: 

Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://

www.regulations.gov. Follow the online 

instructions for submitting comments. 

Do not submit electronically any 

personally identifiable information 

(such as full Social Security numbers, 

full dates of birth, and full driver’s 

license numbers) if its disclosure is 

restricted by statute. Such information 

should be redacted to include only the 

last four digits of an individual’s Social 

Security number or other taxpayer 

identification number, driver’s license 

number, or account number, and only 

the year of an individual’s birth. 

Mail or Courier Delivery: ATTN: 

NVRA Federal Form Comments, U.S. 

Election Assistance Commission, 1335 

East West Highway, Suite 4300, Silver 

Spring, MD 20910. Please do not send 

duplicate copies via mail or courier of 

comments that were submitted 

electronically via the Federal 

eRulemaking Portal. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. 

Karen Lynn-Dyson, Director, Office of 

Research, Policy, and Programs, at (301) 

563–3919 or 1–866–747–1471 (toll-free), 

U.S. Election Assistance Commission, 

1335 East West Highway, Suite 4300, 

Silver Spring, MD 20910. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background: The EAC is the Federal 

agency charged with developing, 

maintaining, and, where necessary, 

modifying the National Mail Voter 

Registration Form mandated by Section 

9(a) of the National Voter Registration 

Act of 1993 (‘‘NVRA’’), 42 U.S.C. 

1973gg–7(a). Pursuant to Sections 

4(a)(2) and 6(a) of the NVRA, id. 

§§ 1973gg–2(a)(2) and 1973gg–4(a), 

States covered by the NVRA must 

accept and use the Federal Form for 

registration of voters in elections for 

Federal office. 

As originally enacted, the NVRA 

assigned authority to the Federal 

Election Commission ‘‘in consultation 

with the chief election officers of the 

States’’ to ‘‘develop a mail voter 

registration application form’’ and to 

‘‘prescribe such regulations as are 

necessary to carry out’’ this 

responsibility. 42 U.S.C. 1973gg–7(a). 

The FEC undertook this responsibility, 

in consultation with the States, and 

issued the original regulations on the 

Federal Form in 1994. NVRA Final Rule 

Notice, 59 FR 32,311 (June 23, 1994). In 

the Help America Vote Act of 2002 

(‘‘HAVA’’), the FEC’s responsibilities 

regarding the Federal Form were 

transferred to the EAC. 42 U.S.C. 15532. 

The EAC’s discretion in developing 

the content of the Federal Form is 

constrained by several statutory 

requirements, including those found in 

Section 9(b) of the NVRA, 42 U.S.C. 

1973gg-7(b), and Section 303(b)(4) of 

HAVA, id. § 15483(b)(4). The EAC has 

promulgated regulations that further 

delineate the contents and format of the 

Federal Form. See 11 CFR Part 9428, 

Subpart B. The EAC commissioners 

have delegated to the Executive Director 

of the EAC the day-to-day 

responsibilities of implementing and 

interpreting EAC regulations and policy, 

answering questions from stakeholders 

regarding the application of NVRA or 

HAVA, and maintaining the Federal 

Form consistent with the NVRA and 

EAC Regulations and policies. 

State Requests to Modify StateSpecific Instructions: The chief election 

official of each State is responsible for 

notifying the EAC within 30 days of any 

change in the State’s voter eligibility 

requirements or any other information 

reported under 11 CFR 9428.6. Pursuant 

to those requirements, the FEC and later 

the EAC received numerous requests 

over the years from States to modify the 

Federal Form’s State-specific 

instructions in various respects. 

In recent years, the EAC has received 

requests from three States to include 

State-specific instructions on the 

Federal Form requiring voter 

registration applicants from their states 

to supply additional proof of their 

United States citizenship as a 

precondition to registration. These 

changes were requested as a result of the 

passage of State laws requiring such 

additional proof of citizenship. Arizona 

first submitted its request to the EAC to 

include such an instruction in 2005, as 

a result of the State’s passage in 2004 of 

a voter initiative known as Proposition 

200, later codified at Ariz. Rev. Stat 

§ 16–166(F). Kansas first submitted its 

request to the EAC to include such 

instructions in 2012, as a result of the 

State’s passage in 2011 of amendments 

to its voter registration laws, codified at 

Kan. Stat. Ann. § 25–2309(l). Georgia 

first submitted its request to the EAC to 

include such instructions in 2013, as a 

result of the State’s passage in 2009 of 

amendments to its voter registration 

laws, codified at Ga. Code Ann. § 21–2– 

216(g). 

On March 6, 2006, the EAC denied 

Arizona’s original 2005 request to 

include additional proof of citizenship 

instructions on the Federal Form, 

finding that the form already required 

applicants to attest to their citizenship 

under penalty of perjury and to 

complete a mandatory checkbox 

indicating that they are citizens of the 

United States. The EAC also found that 

Congress had specifically considered 

but ultimately rejected a provision in 

the NVRA that would have allowed 

states to require documentary proof of 

citizenship, because such a provision 

was, in Congress’s words, ‘‘not 

necessary or consistent with the 

purposes of’’ the NVRA. On the basis of 

these findings, the EAC concluded that 

Arizona’s proof of citizenship law was 

preempted by Federal law, and that 

Arizona must accept the Federal Form 

for voter registration in Federal 

elections, without requiring additional 

proof of citizenship. 

In July 2006, after receiving a request 

from Arizona’s Secretary of State, the 

EAC’s then-chairman requested that the 

EAC commissioners grant an 

accommodation to Arizona by 

reconsidering the Executive Director’s 

March 6, 2006, final decision on behalf 

of the agency and granting Arizona’s 

request to include its requested proof-ofcitizenship instructions in the Statespecific instructions on the Federal 

Form. On July 11, 2006, the EAC 

commissioners denied the chairman’s 

motion for an accommodation by a tie 

vote of 2–2. 

Private parties filed litigation against 

Arizona, challenging, among other 

issues, Arizona’s compliance with the 

NVRA, and this litigation reached the 

Supreme Court during the 2012 Term. 


emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 247 / Tuesday, December 24, 2013 / Notices 77667 

In June 2013, the Supreme Court ruled 

that the NVRA preempts inconsistent 

State law and States must accept and 

use the Federal Form for voter 

registration purposes in elections for 

Federal office. Arizona v. Inter Tribal 

Council of Arizona, Inc., ll 

U.S. ll, 133 S. Ct. 2247, 2253–60 

(2013) (hereinafter ‘‘Inter Tribal 

Council’’). 

The EAC deferred consideration of the 

requests by Kansas and Georgia 

pursuant to internal operating 

procedures put in place in 2011 by the 

former EAC Executive Director. These 

procedures provided that requests that 

‘‘raise issues of broad policy concerns to 

more than one state’’ would be deferred 

until the EAC regained a quorum of its 

commissioners, so that they would have 

the opportunity, if they desired, to 

provide additional policy guidance to 

the Executive Director and staff. 

Currently all four seats on the EAC are 

vacant. 

Following the Supreme Court’s 

decision in Inter Tribal Council in June 

2013, Arizona and Kansas renewed their 

requests to the EAC to change the Statespecific instructions on the Federal 

Form to include additional proof-ofcitizenship requirements, and the EAC 

likewise deferred those renewed 

requests, in accordance with the 2011 

EAC internal procedures. Kansas and 

Arizona officials then initiated litigation 

against the EAC in the United States 

District Court for the District of Kansas, 

challenging the EAC’s deferral of these 

requests. See Kobach v. EAC, No. 5:13– 

cv–4095 (D. Kan. filed Aug. 21, 2013). 

On December 13, 2013, as part of this 

litigation, the district court remanded 

the Kansas and Arizona matters to the 

EAC with instructions that the EAC 

render a final agency action on the 

Kansas and Arizona requests to change 

the Federal Form by no later than 

January 17, 2014. The Court’s order 

provided that if the EAC has not acted 

by January 17, 2014, the States’ requests 

will be deemed by the Court to have 

been denied. The Georgia request is not 

part of this pending federal court 

litigation. 

Request for Public Comments: The 

EAC invites public comments on the 

requests from Arizona, Kansas and 

Georgia to modify the State-specific 

instructions for those States on the 

Federal Form to require additional proof 

of citizenship under their respective 

state laws beyond the existing 

requirements on the Federal Form. The 

EAC invites public comments on any 

issues that commenters believe are 

relevant to the EAC’s consideration of 

these State requests. Comments must be 

in writing and must be submitted no 

later than 5:00 p.m. EST on January 3, 

2014. 

Dated: December 19, 2013. 

Alice Miller, 

Chief Operating Officer and Acting Executive 

Director, U.S. Election Assistance 

Commission. 

[FR Doc. 2013–30659 Filed 12–23–13; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6820–KF–P 

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 

Proposed Agency Information 

Collection Extension With Changes 

AGENCY: U.S. Energy Information 

Administration (EIA), U.S. Department 

of Energy. 

ACTION: Notice and Request for OMB 

Review and Comment. 

SUMMARY: EIA has submitted an 

information collection request to the 

OMB for extension with changes, under 

the provisions of the Paperwork 

Reduction Act of 1995, for the 

Electricity and Renewable Power 

Surveys (OMB Control Number 1905– 

0129) information collection. EIA 

requests a three-year clearance with 

changes for the following existing forms: 

D Form EIA–411, ‘‘Coordinated Bulk 

Power Supply Program Report’’ 

D Form EIA–826, ‘‘Monthly Electric 

Utility Sales and Revenue Report with 

State Distributions’’ 

D Form EIA–860, ‘‘Annual Electric 

Generator Report’’ 

D Form EIA–860M, ‘‘Monthly Update 

to the Annual Electric Generator 

Report’’ 

D Form EIA–861, ‘‘Annual Electric 

Power Industry Report’’ 

D Form EIA–861S, ‘‘Annual Electric 

Power Industry Report (Short Form)’’ 

D Form EIA–923, ‘‘Power Plant 

Operations Report’’ and 

the addition of a new survey, Form EIA– 

930, ‘‘Balancing Authority Operations 

Report’’ under OMB Control Number 

1905–0129. 

EIA also proposes to discontinue 

OMB Control Number 1905–0196 for the 

Solar Information Collection. This 

collection includes the Form EIA–63A 

(Annual Solar Thermal Collector/

Reflector Shipments Report), Form EIA– 

63B (Annual Photovoltaic Module/Cell 

Shipments Report), and Form EIA–902 

(Annual Geothermal Heat Pump 

Shipments Report). The current 

approval will expire on December 31, 

2013. EIA does not plan to collect data 

on the Forms EIA–63A and EIA–902 

and proposes to transfer the Form EIA– 

63B to the Electric Power Information 

Collection (OMB Control Number 1905– 

0129). 

DATES: Comments regarding this 

collection must be received on or before 

January 23, 2014. If you anticipate that 

you will be submitting comments, but 

find it difficult to do so within the 

period of time allowed by this notice, 

please advise the DOE Desk Officer at 

OMB of your intention to make a 

submission as soon as possible. The 

Desk Officer may be telephoned at 202– 

395–4718 or contacted by email at 

Chad_S_Whiteman@omb.eop.gov. 

ADDRESSES: Written comments should 

be sent to the 

DOE Desk Officer, Office of 

Information and Regulatory Affairs, 

Office of Management and Budget, New 

Executive Office Building, Room 10102, 

735 17th Street NW., Washington, DC 

20503, Chad_S_Whiteman@

omb.eop.gov. 

And to Rebecca Peterson, U.S. Energy 

Information Administration, Mail Stop 

EI–23, Forrestal Building, 1000 

Independence Avenue SW., 

Washington, DC 20585, erus2014@

eia.gov. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Direct any requests for additional 

information or copies of the information 

collection instrument and instructions 

to Rebecca Peterson at erus2014@

eia.gov, or at 202–586–4509. The 

collection instrument and instructions 

are also available on the Internet at: 

http://www.eia.gov/survey/changes/

electricity/. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This 

information collection request contains: 

(1) OMB No.: 1905–0129; 

(2) Information Collection Request 

Title: Electricity and Renewables Power 

Surveys; 

(3) Type of Request: Extension, with 

changes of a currently approved 

collection; 

(4) Purpose: The electricity and 

renewables surveys collect data from 

entities involved in the production, 

transmission, delivery, and sale of 

electricity, and in maintaining the 

reliable operation of the power system. 

The data collected are the primary 

source of information on the nation’s 

electric power industry. EIA uses the 

data collected on the electric power 

surveys to answer queries from the U.S. 

Congress, other federal and state 

agencies, the electric power industry, 

and the public; and as input to the 

National Energy Modeling System 

(NEMS) and to EIA’s other forecasting 

and analytical activities. Other users of 

the data include policy makers, 

regulators, energy market analysts, and 

the energy industries. 

EIA proposes that the existing Form 

EIA–63B, ‘‘Annual Photovoltaic Cell/


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