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HB 4598 Text

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House Bill 4598 History

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WEST VIRGINIA LEGISLATURE
2026
REGULAR SESSION
Introduced
House Bill 4598
By Delegates T. Howell, Jennings, Hillenbrand, Ferrell, Kimble, Mazzocchi, White, Crouse, Clay, Brooks, and Holstein
[Introduced January 20, 2026; referred to the Committee on the Judiciary]
A BILL to amend and reenact §3-2-30 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating to providing voter lists for noncommercial use; providing legislative findings; providing definitions; requiring the inclusion of change audit data as part of the information provided in the voter lists for the election cycle subscription service; and providing clarification on implementation of this process.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:

ARTICLE 2. REGISTRATION OF VOTERS.

§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.

Any person may examine the active, inactive, rejected and canceled voter registration records during office hours of the clerk of the county commission in accordance with chapter 29B of this code.

Active, inactive, rejected and canceled voter files are to be maintained in electronic data format. Any person may 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 for examination and copying shall include all registration and voting information maintained in the file, but may not include the registrant's telephone number, email address, Social Security number or driver's license number or nonoperator's identification number issued by the Division of Motor Vehicles.
(b) The clerk of the county commission shall, upon request, provide printed copies of the lists of voters for each precinct. No list prepared under this section may include the registrant's telephone number, email address, Social Security number or driver's license number or nonoperator's identification number issued by the Division of Motor Vehicles. The clerk shall establish a written policy, posted within public view, listing the options for selection and sorting criteria and available data elements. The data elements shall include, at least:
(1) The name, residence address, political party affiliation and status of the registrant;
(2) The available formats of the lists; and
(3) The times at which lists will be prepared. A copy of the county policy shall be filed with the Secretary of State no later than January 1 of each even-numbered year.
(c) Lists of registered voters may be obtained for noncommercial purposes in data format on disk or as a printed list provided by the clerk of the county commission at a cost of one cent per name. No data file prepared under this subsection may include the registrant's telephone number, email address, Social Security number or driver's license number or nonoperator's identification number issued by the Division of Motor Vehicles.
(d) The fees received by the clerk of the county commission shall be kept in a separate fund under the supervision of the clerk and may be used for the purpose of defraying the cost of the preparation of the voter lists. After deducting the costs of preparing voter lists, the clerk shall deposit the net proceeds from the sale of the voter lists in the State Election Fund as set forth in §3-1-48(b) of this code.
(e) The Secretary of State shall make voter lists available for sale subject to the limitations as provided in subsection (a) of this section. The fees for the voter lists shall be as prescribed in §59-1-2b of this code. The revenue associated with purchase of a partial list or associated with a complete statewide list shall be deposited in the State Election Fund as set forth in
§3-1-48(b) of this code
.
(f) No voter registration lists or data files containing voter names, addresses or other information 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.
(g) This section may not be interpreted to prevent the Secretary of State from sharing data files containing voter information with authorized service providers or sharing data across state lines with any state or local election official for the purpose of voter registration and election administration in accordance with this chapter or applicable federal law.

(h) The Legislature finds that:
(1) Public access to state records, including change audit data, is essential for transparency and accountability;
(2) The Secretary of State makes voter registration data available to the public for a fee depending on the list requested;
(3) The existing $1,000 annual subscription service provides access to certain government records but does not include change audit data;
(4) Subscribers should receive comprehensive access by including change audit data in the subscription service; and
(5) The type of data for each column of the data should be reason for change and date of change.
(i) "Change audit data" means any recorded modifications, updates, or revisions to a voter record.
(j) Commencing January 1, 2027, the Secretary of State shall include change audit data as part of the records accessible under the $1,000 subscription service for Voter Registration Data and provide a clear indexing system to facilitate efficient access to the change audit data.
(k) The subscription service for Voter Registration Data as provided in Chapter 59 of this code shall be for 12 months of monthly data files.

NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to update the voter list information for noncommercial use by requiring the inclusion of change audit data as part of the information provided in the voter lists for the election cycle subscription service.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from a heading or the present law and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.

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