Source: http://www.wvlegislature.gov/Bill_Status/bills_text.cfm?billdoc=SB535%20SUB1%20ENR.htm&yr=2013&sesstype=RS&i=535
Timestamp: 2018-02-25 02:01:54
Document Index: 549359213

Matched Legal Cases: ['§3', '§3', '§3', '§3', '§3', '§3', '§3', '§3', '§3', '§3', '§1973', '§1973', '§1973', '§401', '§1973']

(Senators Palumbo, Wells, McCabe and Fitzsimmons, original sponsors)
AN ACT to repeal §3-2-24 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended; to amend and reenact §3-1-3 of said code; and to amend and reenact §3-2-2, §3-2-4a, §3-2-18, §3-2-19, §3-2-21, §3-2-23, §3-2-25 and §3-2-29 of said code, all relating to the maintenance of voter registration lists and related records generally; repealing provisions governing superseded voter list purging procedures; updating specific constitutional provisions relating to voting; modifying when a person under the age of eighteen may vote in a primary election; updating the processes and responsibilities for statewide voter registration and establishing county and state roles in the voter registration process; modifying the processes of maintaining voter registration records; specifying county roles in maintaining voter registration files for municipal elections; modifying processes for the maintenance of records in the statewide voter registration database; permitting registration records to be shared across state lines pursuant to certain programs; modifying processes for cancellation of deceased or ineligible voters' registrations; providing county and state roles in the systematic purging program for removal of ineligible voters from active voter registration records; and providing for the custody of paper and electronic voter registration records.
(5) The Secretary of State, any clerk of the county commission or any authorized designee of the Secretary of State or clerk of the county commission may obtain immediate electronic access to the information contained in the statewide voter registration database.
(b) The Secretary of State or any clerk of a county commission shall perform maintenance with respect to the statewide voter registration database on a regular basis as follows:
(1) If an individual is to be removed from the statewide voter registration database, 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 statewide voter registration database with state agency records and shall establish procedures for the removal of names of individuals who are not qualified to vote because of felony status or death. No state agency may withhold information regarding a voter’s status as deceased or as a felon unless ordered by a court of law.
(2) Only voters who are not registered, who have requested in writing that their voter registration be canceled or who are not eligible to vote are removed from the statewide voter registration database;
(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 six, article two of this chapter, who have not otherwise updated their voter registration address 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) By participation in programs across state lines to share data specifically for voter registration to ensure that voters who have moved across state lines or become deceased in another state are removed in accordance with state law and 42 U. S. C.§1973gg, et seq.; and
(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;
(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; and
(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. The number assigned under this subdivision shall be the unique identifying number assigned under the statewide voter registration database.
(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 statewide voter registration database 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.§401, et seq., the Social Security Act. All fees associated with this agreement shall be paid for from moneys in the fund created under section twelve of this article.
(1) “Original voter registration record” means all records submitted or entered in writing or electronically, where permitted by law, for voter registration purposes, including:
(B) Any original entry made on any voter’s registration record at the polling place, or made or received by the clerk of the county commission relating to any voter’s registration, such as records of voting, presentation of identification and proof of age, challenge of registration, notice of death or obituary notice, notice of disqualifying conviction or ruling of mental incompetence or other original document which may affect the status of any person’s voter registration.
(2) “Active voter registration records” means the registration records, whether on paper or in electronic format, containing the names, addresses, birth dates and other required information for all persons within a county who are registered to vote and whose registration has not been designated as inactive or canceled pursuant to the provisions of this article.
(3) “Inactive voter registration records” means the registration records, whether on paper or in electronic format, containing the names, addresses, birth dates and other required information for all persons designated inactive pursuant to the provisions of section twenty-seven of this article following the return of the prescribed notices as undeliverable at the address provided by the United States Postal Service or entered on the voter registration, or for failure of the contacted voter to return a completed confirmation notice within thirty days of the mailing.
(4) “Canceled voter registration records” means the records containing all required information for all persons who have been removed from the active and inactive voter registration records and who are no longer registered to vote within the county.
(5) “Pending application records” means the temporary records containing all information submitted on a voter registration application, pending the expiration of the verification period.
(6) “Rejected application records” means the records containing all information submitted on a voter registration application which was rejected for reasons as described in this article.
(7) “Confirmation pending records” means the records containing all required information for persons who have been identified to be included in the next succeeding mailing of address confirmation notices as set forth by the National Voter Registration Act of 1993(42 U. S. C.§1973gg, et seq.).
(d) The effective date of any action affecting any voter’s registration status shall be entered on the voter record, including the effective date of registration, change of name, address or party affiliation or correction of the record, effective date of transfer to inactive status, return to active status or cancellation. When any registration is designated inactive or is canceled, the reason for the designation or cancellation and any reference notation necessary to locate the original documentation related to the change shall be entered on the voter record.
(b) Within thirty days following the entry of any annexation order or change in street names or numbers, the governing body of an incorporated municipality shall file with the clerk of the county commission a certified current official municipal boundary map and a list of streets and ranges of street numbers within the municipality to assist the clerk in determining whether a voter’s address is within the boundaries of the municipality.
(h) Upon receipt of an application or written confirmation from an inactive voter of a change of address within the county, change of name, change of party affiliation or other correction to a registration record, any necessary change shall be entered in the record, the required notice of disposition mailed and the record updated to active status, and the date of the transaction shall be recorded. Receipt of an application or written confirmation from an inactive voter that confirms the voter’s current address shall be treated in the same manner.
(i) Upon receipt of a notice of death, a notice of conviction or a notice of a determination of mental incompetence, as provided in section twenty-three of this article, the date and reason for cancellation shall be entered on the voter’s record and the record status shall be changed to canceled.
(j) Upon receipt from the voter of a request for cancellation or notice of change of address to an address outside the county pursuant to the provisions of section twenty-two of this article, or as a result of a determination of ineligibility through a general program of removing ineligible voters as authorized by the provisions of this article, the date and reason for cancellation shall be entered on the voter’s record and the record status shall be changed to canceled.
(1) Upon the voter’s death as verified by:
(3) Upon receipt of a notice from the appropriate court of competent jurisdiction of a determination of a voter’s mental incompetence;
(4) Upon receipt from the voter of a written request to cancel the voter’s registration, upon confirmation by the voter of a change of address to an address outside the county, upon notice from a voter registrar of another jurisdiction outside the county or state of the receipt of an application for voter registration in that jurisdiction, or upon notice from the Secretary of State that a voter registration application was accepted in another county of the state subsequent to the last registration date in the first county, as determined from a comparison of voter records; or
(5) Upon failure to respond and produce evidence of continued eligibility to register following the challenge of the voter’s registration pursuant to the provisions of section twenty-eight of this article.
(b) The Secretary of State shall provide for the comparison of data records of all counties. The Secretary of State shall, based on the comparison, prepare a list for each county which shall include the voter registration record for each voter shown on that county’s list who appears to have registered or to have updated a voter registration in another county at a subsequent date. The resulting lists shall be returned to the appropriate county and the clerk of the county commission shall proceed with the confirmation procedure for those voters as prescribed in section twenty-six of this article.