|
REFERENCE TITLE: automatic voter registration; licenses; identification |
|
State of Arizona Senate Fifty-fourth Legislature First Regular Session 2019
|
|
SB 1521 |
|
|
|
Introduced by Senator Quezada
|
AN ACT
amending section 16-112, arizona revised statutes; amending title 16, chapter 1, article 3, arizona revised statutes, by adding section 16-132; relating to voter registration.
(TEXT OF BILL BEGINS ON NEXT PAGE)
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona:
Section 1. Section 16-112, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:
16-112. Driver license voter registration
A. beginning January 1, 2020, every person who is applying for a driver license or renewal, including a nonoperating identification license or renewal issued pursuant to section 28-3165, or following a change of address, and who is otherwise qualified to register to vote shall, at the same time and place, shall be permitted to register registered to vote, or shall have an existing voter registration updated on completion of the application for the license or renewal. each person shall be provided an application to decline voter registration at the conclusion of the transaction. The registration shall occur using information the applicant provides according to the requirements by providing the information prescribed by section 16‑152. The method used to register voters or update voter registrations shall require only the minimum information necessary to prevent duplicate registrations, to enable elections officials to determine voter eligibility and to administer voter registration and election laws. A registration form shall be included for a person who is applying for a driver license renewal by mail. On completion of a form that contains at least the information prescribed by section 16‑121.01, subsection A and that may contain the information prescribed by section 16‑152 and on receipt of that form by the county recorder from the department of transportation as prescribed by subsection D J of this section, the applicant is presumed to be properly registered to vote. That presumption may be rebutted as provided in section 16‑121.01, subsection B.
B. The department of transportation, in consultation with the secretary of state, shall establish a procedure for producing an application that provides all potential voters with an opportunity to choose a political party and language or decline to register to vote. The department of transportation, in consultation with the secretary of state, shall develop a process to produce an application form that includes the individual's existing information relevant to voter registration. The form shall be provided to the person at the conclusion of the transaction. The application shall do all of the following:
1. Prominently display eligibility requirements and directions for persons to decline if they do not wish to register to vote or if they do not meet eligibility requirements.
2. Provide an option for choosing a political party or no party affiliation.
3. Provide an option to designate a language preference for any election materials produced by the secretary of state.
C. The department of transportation shall develop a process for the secure collection of the application forms described in this section and the electronic transmittal of the information contained in the application to the secretary of state.
D. All agency offices designated by the secretary of state as providing voter registration services shall transmit the applications to the secretary of state not later than one calendar day after the completion of the corresponding application for a driver license or nonoperating identification license.
e. Applications may also be mailed to the administrator of elections and directions for mail receipt shall be provided on the application.
F. Unless an application requesting a declination is received by the secretary of state within twenty-one calendar days after the original transaction, the electronic record submitted under subsection A of this section constitutes a completed registration application and the person will be registered to vote unless the secretary of state or the county recorder determines that the person is ineligible.
G. The secretary of state shall ensure that election officials do not provide, for any nongovernmental purpose, the record of any person who has chosen not to register to vote.
B. h. The director of the department of transportation and the secretary of state shall consult at least every two years regarding voter registration at driver license offices. The director of the department of transportation and the secretary of state shall, after consultation with all county recorders, shall adopt rules to implement a system permitting driver license applicants to register to vote at the same time and place as they apply for driver licenses the voter registration system described in subsection A of this section. Such The rules shall:
1. Bring the license application and voter registration application forms into substantial conformity.
2. 1. Permit Allow the transfer of driver license nonoperating identification license applications, including renewal and change of address, and voter registration information from the department of transportation to the voter registration rolls.
3. 2. Respect all rules and statutes of this state concerning the confidentiality of driver license application information.
4. 3. Provide for the manual or electronic generation and transmittal of voter registrations and provide for electronic generation of changes in voter registration information, including address, in conformity with the confidentiality requirements of the national voter registration act of 1993 (P.L. 103‑31; 107 Stat. 77; 42 52 United States Code section 394 20501).
C. i. The department of transportation shall provide to applicants a statement that provides each eligibility requirement for voting, including citizenship, an attestation that the applicant meets each requirement, for the signature of the applicant under penalty of perjury and, in print that is identical to that used in the attestation, the following:
1. A description of the penalties provided by law for the submission of a false voter registration application.
2. A statement that if an applicant declines to register to vote the fact that the applicant has declined to register will remain confidential and will be used only for voter registration purposes.
3. A statement that if an applicant does register to vote the office at which the applicant submits a voter registration application will remain confidential and will be used only for voter registration purposes.
4. A statement that if the applicant is eligible to register to vote, the information provided on the application will be used to register the applicant to vote or to update the applicant's registration, unless the applicant specifically declines registration pursuant to subsection A of this section.
5. A statement that an applicant who is eligible to have the applicant's registration information kept confidential pursuant to section 16-153 and any other registered voter who resides at the same residential address as the eligible person may decline registration under this section and may register to vote without publicly disclosing this information.
6. A statement expressly stating that an applicant who is a program participant in the address confidentiality program pursuant to title 41, chapter 1, article 3 or who is protected under an order of protection or injunction against harassment and who presents the required documentation pursuant to section 16-153, subsection J may also decline registration under this section and may register to vote without publicly disclosing this information.
D. j. The department of transportation shall return or mail electronically transmit completed registrations to the county recorder of the county in which the applicant resides within five days not later than one calendar day after receipt of a completed registration.
K. A person who is not entitled to register to vote and who unknowingly registers under this section is not guilty of fraudulently registering to vote pursuant to sections 16-182 and 16-184.
Sec. 2. Title 16, chapter 1, article 3, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended by adding section 16-132, to read:
16-132. Automatic voter registration; assistance agencies
A. Beginning January 1, 2020, all state public assistance agencies and disability agencies designated as voter registration agencies by the secretary of state may adopt an automatic process for registering eligible persons by providing notice to the person:
1. That unless the person declines to register to vote or is ineligible to vote, the person will be registered to vote or, if applicable, the person's registration will be updated.
2. That if the person is a victim of domestic violence or stalking the person may decline to register to vote or to update the applicant's voter registration under this section and the person may be eligible to register to vote without publicly disclosing the applicant's private street address through the address confidentiality program.
3. Of eligibility requirements.
4. Of the person's option to decline voter registration.
B. A person who does not decline registration and whose eligibility is known after the person is informed of the requirements for eligibility in such language as is necessary for the person to understand and provide affirmation of eligibility shall be registered to vote.
C. An election official may not transfer to the registration rolls any person who declines registration.
D. For each person who does not opt out of using agency records to register to vote, the agency shall collect:
1. A signed affirmation of eligibility.
2. An optional selection of party preference.
3. Any additional information designated by the secretary of state for such purposes and reasonably related to the management of elections and not otherwise collected by the agency in the normal course of business.
E. Unless an ineligible person wilfully and knowingly takes affirmative steps to register to vote, knowing that the person is not eligible to vote, the record and signature of the ineligible person that is transmitted through the process established under section a of this section to any elections or voter registration authority does not constitute a completed voter registration form, and that person is not considered to have registered to vote. If the registration is processed by this state, the registration is deemed to be officially authorized by this state, and the person is not subject to any criminal or civil penalty.