Bill Text: CT HB05514 | 2016 | General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: An Act Concerning The Department Of Motor Vehicles And Automatic Voter Registration.
Spectrum: Committee Bill
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2016-04-19 - Referred by House to Committee on Transportation [HB05514 Detail]
Download: Connecticut-2016-HB05514-Introduced.html
General Assembly |
Raised Bill No. 5514 | ||
February Session, 2016 |
LCO No. 2564 | ||
*02564_______GAE* | |||
Referred to Committee on GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION AND ELECTIONS |
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Introduced by: |
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(GAE) |
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AN ACT CONCERNING THE DEPARTMENT OF MOTOR VEHICLES AND AUTOMATIC VOTER REGISTRATION.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:
Section 1. (NEW) (Effective July 1, 2017) (a) (1) The Commissioner of Motor Vehicles shall, in consultation with the Secretary of the State and any other department head, as defined in section 4-5 of the general statutes, designated by the Secretary of the State, establish a schedule and system by which the Department of Motor Vehicles or other state agency designated by the Secretary of the State electronically provides to the registrars of voters of a municipality the elector admission records of each person residing in such municipality who submits an application to the department, as that term is defined in subdivision (2) of this subsection. Such system shall include, but not be limited to, a web-based program developed by the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles or any other department head designated by the Secretary of the State that allows any such person to be admitted as an elector as provided in this section.
(2) For the purposes of this section, a person submits an application to the Department of Motor Vehicles or other state agency designated by the Secretary of the State when such person submits to the department (A) an application for a motor vehicle operator's license or motor vehicle operator's license renewal, issued under subpart (B) of part III of chapter 246 of the general statutes, or an identity card issued under section 1-1h of the general statutes, (B) any other application or renewal form, or (C) a change of address for any license, registration or other record maintained by the department.
(b) (1) Except as provided in subdivisions (2) to (5), inclusive, of this subsection, the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles or other department head designated by the Secretary of the State shall provide to the registrars of voters of a municipality, in a manner prescribed by the Secretary of the State, the following information for each person residing in such municipality who submits an application to the department: (A) Name, (B) date of birth, (C) Connecticut motor vehicle operator's license number or identity card number or, if none, the last four digits of such person's Social Security number, (D) (i) bona fide residence, including street number, street address, apartment number if applicable, town and zip code, or (ii) bona fide mailing address, (E) gender, (F) digital copy of such person's signature, (G) telephone number, if available, (H) an indication of whether such person affirmatively declined to be admitted as an elector during the submission of an application to the department, (I) an indication that such person has attested to meeting all eligibility requirements for admission as an elector, including being a United States citizen who has attained the age of eighteen years or who will have attained such age on or before the day of a regular election, (J) the political party with which the person wishes to affiliate, if any, (K) previous name or voting address, and (L) any other information required by the Secretary of the State.
(2) Each person applying for admission as an elector pursuant to subdivision (1) of this subsection shall swear or affirm under penalty of perjury:
"(A) I am the person whose name and identifying information is to be provided to the registrars of voters of the municipality in which I reside.
(B) I reside at the address to be so provided.
(C) All of the information to be so provided is true and correct as of the date of submission of this application to the department.
(D) I am a United States citizen who has attained the age of eighteen years or will have attained such age on or before the day of a regular election.
(E) My electoral privileges have not been forfeited by reason of conviction of a disfranchising crime or, if so, such electoral privileges have been restored and I am presently legally qualified to be admitted as an elector."
(3) In the case of a person who does not so swear or affirm in accordance with subdivision (2) of this subsection, the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles or other department head designated by the Secretary of the State shall not so provide such information to the registrars of voters.
(4) In the case of a person who does not submit satisfactory proof of citizenship, the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles or other department head designated by the Secretary of the State shall not so provide such information to the registrars of voters.
(5) The Secretary of the State shall not sell, transfer or allow any third party to access the information described in subdivision (1) of this subsection without the approval of the Department of Motor Vehicles or other state agency designated by the Secretary of the State, as the case may be.
(c) The information provided to the registrars of voters of a municipality by the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles or other department head designated by the Secretary of the State pursuant to subsection (b) of this section shall constitute a completed application for admission as an elector. Upon receipt of such information, such registrars shall admit as an elector the person whose information was so provided, except that such registrars of voters shall not so admit such person if: (1) Such information indicates that such person affirmatively declined to be admitted as an elector during the submission of an application to the department, (2) such information does not indicate that such person has attested to meeting all eligibility requirements for admission as an elector, as prescribed in section 9-12 of the general statutes, and (3) such registrars of voters determine that such person is not legally qualified to vote.
(d) (1) If any person who is not legally qualified to vote applies for admission as an elector pursuant to subsection (c) of this section without knowledge of such ineligibility and is so admitted, such person's admission as an elector shall be presumed as having been effectuated with official authorization and shall not constitute a violation of section 9-357 of the general statutes on the part of such person.
(2) If any person who is not legally qualified to vote is admitted as an elector pursuant to subsection (c) of this section and, after the effective date of such person's admission as an elector, votes or attempts to vote without knowledge that such person is not so qualified, such person's vote shall be presumed as having been cast with official authorization and shall not constitute a violation of section 9-360 of the general statutes on the part of such person.
(e) If any person applies for admission as an elector pursuant to subsection (c) of this section after the seventh day before an election or after the fifth day before a primary, the privileges of an elector shall not attach until the day after such election or primary, as the case may be.
(f) Nothing in this section shall be construed to affect the confidentiality of information under section 1-217 or 54-240g of the general statutes.
(g) The Secretary of the State may adopt regulations, in accordance with the provisions of chapter 54 of the general statutes, to implement the provisions of this section.
Sec. 2. Section 9-19h of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2017):
(a) The Department of Social Services, the Labor Department and the Department of Motor Vehicles shall make voter registration information and materials available to the public. Such information and materials shall be placed in public areas of the offices of such departments. The State Library and the libraries of the state's public institutions of higher education shall also make such information and materials available to users of the libraries. The Secretary of the State shall provide such departments, such libraries and any libraries open to the public with suitable nonpartisan literature, materials and voter registration application forms authorized under sections 9-23g and 9-23h. The secretary shall also provide to the Department of Social Services, the Labor Department and the Department of Motor Vehicles any furniture needed to display such literature, materials and forms.
(b) [In addition to the requirements of subsection (a) of this section, the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles, not later than January 1, 1994, shall include an application for the admission of an elector with each application form provided for a motor vehicle operator's license and a motor vehicle operator's license renewal, which are issued under subpart (B) of part III of chapter 246, and with each application form provided for an identity card issued under section 1-1h. Such application form for the admission of an elector (1) shall be subject to the approval of the Secretary of the State, (2) shall not include any provisions for the witnessing of the application, and (3) shall contain a statement that (A) specifies each eligibility requirement, (B) contains an attestation that the applicant meets each such requirement, and (C) requires the signature of the applicant under penalty of perjury.] The Commissioner of Motor Vehicles shall accept any [such] completed application for admission [which] as an elector that is submitted in person or by mail. The applicant shall state on such form, under penalty of perjury, the applicant's name, bona fide residence address, date of birth, whether the applicant is a United States citizen, party enrollment, if any, prior voting address, if registered previously, and that the applicant's privileges as an elector are not forfeited by reason of conviction of a felony. No Social Security number on any such application form for the admission of an elector filed prior to January 1, 2000, may be disclosed to the public or to any governmental agency. The commissioner shall indicate on each such form the date of receipt of such application to ensure that any eligible applicant is registered to vote in an election if it is received by the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles by the last day for registration to vote in an election. The commissioner shall provide the applicant with an application receipt, on a form approved by the Secretary of the State and on which the commissioner shall record the date that the commissioner received the application, using an official date stamp bearing the words "Department of Motor Vehicles". The commissioner shall provide such receipt whether the application was submitted in person or by mail. The commissioner shall forthwith transmit the application to the registrars of voters of the applicant's town of residence. If a registration application is accepted within five days before the last day for registration to vote in a regular election, the application shall be transmitted to the registrars of voters of the town of voting residence of the applicant not later than five days after the date of acceptance. The procedures in subsections (c), (d), (f) and (g) of section 9-23g [which] that are not inconsistent with the National Voter Registration Act of 1993, P.L. 103-31, as amended from time to time, shall apply to applications made under this section. The commissioner is not an admitting official and may not restore, under the provisions of section 9-46a, electoral privileges of persons convicted of a felony.
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections: | ||
Section 1 |
July 1, 2017 |
New section |
Sec. 2 |
July 1, 2017 |
9-19h |
Statement of Purpose:
To provide for the automatic voter registration of any person not already registered during certain transactions or contact with the Department of Motor Vehicles or other state agencies designated by the Secretary of the State.
[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not underlined.]