HP1037, LD 1484, item 1, An Act Regarding the Central Voter Registration System

An Act Regarding the Central Voter Registration System

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:

Sec. 1. 21-A MRSA §161, sub-§2-A, as enacted by PL 2005, c. 453, §32, is amended to read:

2-A. Maintenance of voter registration information. The registrar in each municipality shall keep the central voter registration system current at all times for the voters in the registrar's municipality. The Secretary of State is authorized to conduct maintenance of the central voter registration system. The Secretary of State shall by rule determine the program for voter list maintenance required by the National Voter Registration Act of 1993. A registrar may not cancel a voter's registration in the central voter registration system solely because the registered voter did not vote in previous elections. A voter’s registration record in the central voter registration system must be cancelled by either the registrar for the voter’s municipality or by the Secretary of State as follows:

A. When it is determined that a voter has registered to vote in another jurisdiction in the State, the voter registration record from the former jurisdiction must be cancelled; and

B. When it is determined that the voter has registered to vote in another jurisdiction outside of the State, the voter registration record in the State must be cancelled.

Sec. 2. 21-A MRSA §162-A, sub-§1, as enacted by PL 1993, c. 695, §17, is amended to read:

1. Change of address confirmation notice. Except as provided in section 122, subsection 3, a registrar , or the Secretary of State when conducting maintenance of the central voter registration system, shall send by forwardable mail a change of address confirmation notice, with a postage prepaid and preaddressed return notice, to the last known place of residence of each person the registrar or the Secretary of State has identified as having a change of address. If a registrant has moved within the municipality's jurisdiction, a registrar shall change the voter's record to reflect the new address before sending the change of address confirmation notice. If a registrant has moved outside the municipality's jurisdiction, a registrar shall also include information on voter registration procedures in the new jurisdiction.

Sec. 3. 21-A MRSA §162-A, sub-§2, as amended by PL 2005, c. 453, §33, is further amended to read:

2. Change of voter's status. A voter's registration may be cancelled in the central voter registration system if the voter confirms that the voter has moved from the municipality's jurisdiction. If a voter fails to respond to the change of address confirmation notice, the voter must be designated on the incoming voting list and in the central voter registration system as inactive. A voter who has been designated as inactive and fails to vote for the next 2 general elections must be cancelled in the central voter registration system. If a voter who is designated as inactive votes at any election prior to cancellation in the central voter registration system, the inactive designation of the voter must be changed to active. Address verification may be requested at the polls before allowing a voter designated as inactive to vote. Cancellation of a voter’s registration record in the central voter registration system pursuant to this subsection may be performed by either the registrar for the voter’s municipality or the Secretary of State.

Sec. 4. 21-A MRSA §196, sub-§3, as amended by PL 2007, c. 397, §2 and c. 455, §12, is repealed and the following enacted in its place:

3. Other reports. The Secretary of State shall make available to any person upon request and free of charge the following voter record information in electronic form: either the voter's first name or last name, but not both names in the same report; year of birth; enrollment status; electoral districts to include congressional district and county only; voter status; the date of registration or the date of change of the voter record if applicable; the date of the last statewide election in which each voter voted; and any special designations indicating uniformed service voters, overseas voters or township voters. The Secretary of State or the registrar also may make available to any person upon request and free of charge any other reports that do not contain the names, dates of birth or addresses of individual voters.

Sec. 5. 21-A MRSA §196, last ¶, as amended by PL 2007, c. 397, §2, is repealed.

summary

This bill provides that either a municipal registrar or the Secretary of State has the authority to cancel voter registration records in the central voter registration system when the records are duplicates or when the voter has moved to another jurisdiction. The bill gives the Secretary of State the explicit authority to conduct a system-wide program of voter list maintenance. The bill provides for access to statistical voter registration information. The bill repeals the sunset of the law regarding the use and distribution of central voter registration system information.

FISCAL NOTE REQUIRED

(See attached)

HP1037 LD 1484	First Regular Session - 124th Maine Legislature Text: MS-Word, RTF or PDF		LR 2005 Item 1
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