Modifies provisions for elections

SECOND REGULAR SESSION
HOUSE BILL NO. 3493
103RD GENERAL ASSEMBL Y
INTRODUCED BY REPRESENT A TIVE WILSON.
7508H.01I JOSEPH ENGLER, Chief Clerk
AN ACT
T o repeal section 1 15.158, RSMo, and to enact in lieu thereof three new sections relating to
maintenance of voter registration lists.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the state of Missouri, as follows:
Section A. Section 1 15.158, RSMo, is repealed and three new sections enacted in lieu
2 thereof, to be known as sections 1 15.028, 1 15.158, and 1 15.220, to read as follows:
1 15.028. 1. The department of health and senior services shall, on a monthly
2 basis, prov ide the secr etary of state with a repor t of every death certificate filed with the
3 department in the pr eceding month.
4 2. The secr etary of state shall, upon receip t of the report requ ired under
5 subsection 1 of this section, notify appr opriate local election authorities of the deaths.
6 3. The local election authority shall rem ove fr om its voter ro lls any names
7 r eceived fr om the secr etary of the state under subsection 2 of this section.
1 15.158. 1. The secretary of state shall implement a centralized, interactive
2 computerized statewide voter registration list. This computerized list shall be known as the
3 "Missouri V oter Registration System". The system shall be implemented by January 1, 2004,
4 unless a waiver is obtained pursuant to the Help America V ote Act of 2002. If a waiver is
5 obtained, the system shall be implemented by January 1, 2006. The system shall be
6 maintained and administered by the secretary of state and contain the name and registration
7 information of every legally registered voter in Missouri. In addition, the system shall:
8 (1) Assign a unique identifier to each legally registered voter in Missouri;
9 (2) Serve as the single system for storing and managing the of ficial list of registered
10 voters throughout Missouri;
EXPLANA TION — Matter enclosed in bold-faced brackets [thus] in the above bill is not enacted and is
intended to be omitted from the law . Matter in bold-face type in the above bill is proposed language.
11 (3) Be coordinated with other agency databases in Missouri;
12 (4) Allow any election of ficial in Missouri, including local election authorities,
13 immediate electronic access to the information contained in the system;
14 (5) Allow all voter registration information obtained by any local election of ficial in
15 Missouri to be electronically entered into the system on an expedited basis at the time the
16 information is provided to the local of ficial. The secretary of state, as the chief state election
17 of ficial, shall provide such support as may be required so that local election of ficials are able
18 to enter the registration information; and
19 (6) Serve as the of ficial voter registration list for the conduct of all elections in
20 Missouri.
21 2. The secretary of state and local election authorities shall perform system
22 maintenance on a regular basis, which shall include:
23 (1) Removing names in accordance with the provisions and procedures of the
24 National V oter Registration Act of 1993 and coordinating system maintenance activities with
25 state agency records on death and felony status;
26 (2) Requiring the name of each registered voter to appear in the system;
27 (3) Removing only voters who are not registered or who are not eligible to vote; and
28 (4) Eliminating duplicate names from the system.
29 3. The secretary of state shall provide adequate technological security measures to
30 prevent the unauthorized access to the system established pursuant to this section.
31 4. The secretary of state shall develop procedures to ensure that voter registration
32 records within the system are accurate and updated regularly . At a minimum, the procedures
33 shall include:
34 (1) A system of file maintenance that makes a reasonable effor t to remove registrants
35 who are ineligible to vote. Consistent with the National V oter Registration Act of 1993,
36 registrants who have not responded to a notice and who have not voted in two consecutive
37 general elections for federal of fice shall be removed from the of ficial list of eligible voters,
38 except that no registrant may be removed solely by reason of a failure to vote; and
39 (2) Safeguards to ensure that eligible voters are not removed in error .
40 5. V oter registration information shall be verified in accordance with the Help
41 America V ote Act of 2002.
42 (1) Except as provided in subdivision (2) of this subsection, an application for voter
43 registration may not be accepted or processed unless the application includes:
44 (a) In the case of an applicant who has been issued a current and valid driver's license,
45 the applicant's driver's license number; or
46 (b) In the case of any other applicant, other than an applicant to whom subdivision (2)
47 applies, the last four digits of the applicant's Social Security number .
HB 3493 2
48 (2) If an applicant for voter registration has not been issued a current and valid
49 driver's license or a Social Security number , the applicant shall be assigned a number which
50 will serve to identify the applicant for voter registration purposes. The number assigned
51 under this subdivision shall be used as the unique identifying number within the system.
52 (3) The secretary of state and the director of the department of revenue shall enter into
53 an agreement to match information in the database of the voter registration system with
54 information in the database of the motor vehicle system , which shall include information
55 pertaining to the citizenship status of those within the department of r evenue's database,
56 to enable the secretary to verify the accuracy of information provided on applications for
57 voter registration.
58 (4) The director of the department of revenue shall enter into an agreement with the
59 commissioner of Social Security and comply with the Help America V ote Act of 2002.
60 (5) In addition to the agreements described in subdivisions (3) and (4) of this
61 subsection, the secr etary of state shall enter into, maintain, and implement an
62 agr eement or memorandum of understanding with the Department of Homeland
63 Security , or its designee, to utilize the Systematic Alien V erification for Entitlements
64 (SA VE) pr ogram for the sole purpose of verifying the citizenship status of register ed
65 voters and voter reg istration applicants.
66 (6) The secr etary of state shall conduct SA VE verifications at least twice each
67 calendar year and upon each registra tion where available data indicates potential
68 noncitizenship.
69 (7) Befor e any action based in whole or in part on SA VE information, the
70 election authority shall prov ide the re gistered voter or applicant written notice and at
71 least thirty days to respond with acceptable evidence of citizenship. A regi stered voter
72 shall not be rem oved fro m the voter roll s within ninety days of a federal election, except
73 at the voter's requ est or upon recei pt of a final judgment of ineligibility . The secr etary
74 of state shall by rule specify acceptable evidence and uniform notice forms and shall
75 track and r eport the aggr egate number of notices issued and outcomes of each
76 investigation.
77 (8) The secr etary of state may pr omulgate all necessary rules and r egulations for
78 the administration of subdivisions (5) to (7) of this subsection. Any rule or portion of a
79 rule, as that term is defined in section 536.010, that is crea ted under the authority
80 delegated in this section shall become effective only if it complies with and is subject to
81 all of the pr ovisions of chapter 536 and, if applicable, section 536.028. This section and
82 chapter 536 are nonseverable and if any of the powers vested with the general assembly
83 pursuant to chapter 536 to revi ew , to delay the effective date, or to disappr ove and annul
HB 3493 3
84 a rule are subsequently held unconstitutional, then the grant of rulemaking authority
85 and any rule prop osed or adopted after August 28, 2026, shall be invalid and void.
86 6. In addition to using the system for voter registration, the election authorities and
87 secretary of state may use the system for the collection and dissemination of election results
88 and other pertinent information. Any information contained in any state or local voter
89 registration system, limited to the master voter registration list or any other list generated
90 from the information, subject to chapter 610, shall not be used for commercial purposes;
91 provided, however , that the information may be used for elections, for candidates, or for
92 ballot measures, furnished at a reasonable fee. V iolation of this section shall be a class B
93 misdemeanor . For purposes of this section, "commercial purposes" means the use of a public
94 record for the purpose of sale or resale or for the purpose of producing a document containing
95 all or part of the copy , printout, or photograph for sale or the obtaining of names and
96 addresses from public records for the purpose of solicitation or the sale of names and
97 addresses to another for the purpose of solicitation or for any purpose in which the purchaser
98 can reasonably anticipate the receipt of monetary gain from the direct or indirect use of the
99 public record.
100 7. The secretary of state shall establish an advisory committee to assist in the
101 establishment and maintenance of the Missouri voter registration system.
102 8. The secretary of state may promulgate rules to execute this section. No rule or
103 portion of a rule promulgated pursuant to the authority of this section shall become ef fective
104 unless it has been promulgated pursuant to chapter 536.
105 9. Election authorities and any agency required under the National V oter Registration
106 Act of 1993 to accept voter registration applications shall forward registration and other data
107 in a manner prescribed by the secretary of state to assist with administering and maintaining
108 the Missouri voter registration system in accordance with the Help America V ote Act of 2002.
1 15.220 . 1. State agencies shall pro vide to the secr etary of state, on a schedule to
2 be determined by the secr etary of state, any information and data that the secr etary of
3 state considers necessary to maintain the statewide voter r egistration database
4 established according to section 1 15.158, except wher e proh ibited by federal law or
5 federal regu lation. The secr etary of state shall ensur e that any information or data
6 pr ovided to the secr etary of state that is confidential in the possession of the entity
7 pr oviding the data rem ains confidential while in the possession of the secr etary of state.
8 2. The secr etary of state shall enter into agreements to share information or data
9 that is in the possession of the secr etary of state with other states or group s of states, as
10 the secr etary of state considers necessary , to maintain the statewide voter regi stration
11 database. Except as otherwise pr ovided in this section, the secr etary of state shall
HB 3493 4
12 ensur e that any information or data provi ded to the secr etary of state that is
13 confidential rem ains confidential while in the possession of the secr etary of state.
14 3. The clerk of each cir cuit court shall, on or before the tenth day of each month,
15 pr epar e and transmit to the secr etary of state, in a format prescrib ed by the secr etary of
16 state, a complete list of all persons, including addr esses, ages, and other identifying
17 information as specified by the secr etary of state, who identify themselves as not being
18 citizens of the United States during their qualification to serve as a jur or during the
19 pr eceding calendar month in that county .
20 4. Upon recei pt of the lists described in subsection 3 of this section, the secr etary
21 of state shall transmit the names of such persons whose names appear on the list of
22 electors to the appr opriate election authority who shall rem ove all such names fr om the
23 voter reg istration list and shall mail a notice of such action and the r eason ther efor to
24 the last known addr ess of such persons by first-class mail.
✔
HB 3493 5