HOUSE BILL REPORT

SSB 6031

BYSenate Committee on Law & Justice (originally sponsored by Senators Nelson, Rasmussen, Talmadge and von Reichbauer)

Establishing voter registration availability with driver's licensing.

House Committe on State Government

Majority Report:  Do pass as amended.  (8)

      Signed by Representatives Todd, Chair; Anderson, Vice Chair; McLean, Ranking Republican Member; R. Fisher, Hankins, R. King, Morris and O'Brien.

Minority Report:  Do not pass.  (1)

      Signed by Representative Silver.

House Staff:Kenneth Hirst (786-7105)

AS PASSED HOUSE FEBRUARY 27, 1990

BACKGROUND:

A person desiring to register to vote must apply before a registrar.  The registrar must interrogate the applicant regarding the applicant's qualifications as an elector and must record the registration information.  The applicant must then sign an oath of registration.  A person who knowingly gives false information for the application or who knowingly makes false declarations regarding his or her qualifications in the oath is guilty of a class C felony.

The Election Code requires the Secretary of State to design a uniform registration form and to furnish the forms to the county auditors without cost.

SUMMARY:

Registration with Licensing.  Before issuing a driver's license or identicard, a licensing agent of the Department of Licensing must determine whether the applicant for the license or card wants to register to vote or to transfer his or her voter registration.  If the applicant so chooses, the applicant may register or transfer a registration and the agent must provide the applicant with a registration form and instructions and record the request. The application form must contain certain specified information and any other information the Secretary of State determines is necessary to establish the identity of the applicant and to prevent duplicate or fraudulent registrations.  The form must also contain a warning identifying the penalty, prescribed by current law, for providing false information or making a false declaration regarding that information.  The applicant must sign the registration oath and sign a portion of the form that can be used as an initiative signature card for verifying petition signatures.

Processing.  Completed forms are to be forwarded from each licensing facility at least once each week.  They must be forwarded to the appropriate county auditors not later than 10 days after being collected.  The Department of Licensing must produce and transmit to the Secretary of State certain registration information in a machine- readable form.  The secretary must sort the information by county and must deliver it, along with a list of registration transactions, to the appropriate county auditors.

Registration in General.   A provision of law is repealed which requires the county auditor to record certain identifying code numbers and precinct information on the registration record.  The form and format of the various registration and machine-readable records must be specified by the secretary by rule.

Supplies and Agreements; Costs.  The Secretary of State must produce and distribute the instructional material and other supplies needed to implement the program for combining applications for drivers' licenses and voter registration.  The secretary must also adopt rules to insure the integrity of the voter registration process and enter into agreements governing the services provided by the county auditors and the Department of Licensing in carrying out this form of voter registration.  The agreement must provide for the reimbursement of all costs incurred by the auditors and the department for their related data processing services.  The secretary must include in the secretary's biennial budget request sufficient funds to carry out these voter registration provisions.

Fiscal Note:      Available.

Effective Date:The provisions of the bill take effect on January 1, 1992, except those requiring the Secretary of State to adopt certain rules, establish agreements, and provide certain services.

House Committee ‑ Testified For:    Ralph Munro, Secretary of State; Cindy Zender, Joint Council of Teamsters; and Sam Reed, County Auditors' Association.

House Committee - Testified Against:      No one.

House Committee - Testimony For:    The bill provides a real opportunity to expand voter registration.

House Committee - Testimony Against:      None.

VOTE ON FINAL PASSAGE:

      Yeas 95; Excused 3 - 2/27

Excused:    Representatives Chandler, Schmidt and Zellinsky