To amend sections 3503.11, 3503.15, 3503.18, 3503.21, and 3506.22 of the Revised Code to modify the law governing the statewide voter registration database and the transmission of voter registration information from the Bureau of Motor Vehicles to the Secretary of State and to reduce the minimum required number of direct recording electronic voting machines.

SECTION 1.  That sections 3503.11, 3503.15, 3503.18, 3503.21, and 3506.22 of the Revised Code be amended to read as follows:

Sec. 3503.11.  When any person applies for a driver's license, commercial driver's license, a state of Ohio identification card issued under section 4507.50 of the Revised Code, or motorcycle operator's license or endorsement, or the renewal or duplicate of any license or endorsement under Chapter 4506. or 4507. of the Revised Code, the registrar of motor vehicles or deputy registrar shall offer the applicant the opportunity to register to vote or to update the applicant's voter registration. The registrar of motor vehicles or deputy registrar also shall make available to all other customers voter registration applications and change of residence and change of name, forms, but is not required to offer assistance to these customers in completing a voter registration application or other form.

The registrar or deputy registrar shall send any completed registration application or any completed change of residence or change of name form that was completed and submitted in paper form to the deputy registrar to the board of elections of the county in which the office of the registrar or deputy registrar is located, within five days after accepting the application or other form. The registrar shall send any completed registration application received at the bureau of motor vehicles headquarters location and any completed change of residence or change of name form processed electronically in systems or programs operated and maintained by the bureau of motor vehicles to the secretary of state within five days after accepting the application or other form.

The registrar shall collect from each deputy registrar through the reports filed under division (J) of section 4503.03 of the Revised Code and transmit to the secretary of state information on the number of voter registration applications and change of residence or change of name forms completed or declined, and any additional information required by the secretary of state to comply with the National Voter Registration Act of 1993. No information relating to an applicant's decision to decline to register or update the applicant's voter registration at the office of the registrar or deputy registrar may be used for any purpose other than voter registration record-keeping required by the secretary of state, and all such information shall be kept confidential.

The secretary of state shall prescribe voter registration applications and change of residence and change of name forms for use by the bureau of motor vehicles. The bureau of motor vehicles shall supply all of its deputy registrars with a sufficient number of voter registration applications and change of residence and change of name forms.

Sec. 3503.15.  (A)(1) The secretary of state shall establish and maintain a statewide voter registration database that shall be administered by the office of the secretary of state and made continuously available to each board of elections and to other agencies as authorized by law.

(2)(a) State agencies, including, but not limited to, the department of health, bureau of motor vehicles, department of job and family services, and the department of rehabilitation and corrections, shall provide any information and data to the secretary of state that is collected in the course of normal business and that is necessary to register to vote, to update an elector's registration, or to maintain the statewide voter registration database established pursuant to this section, except where prohibited by federal law or regulation. The secretary of state shall ensure that any information or data provided to the secretary of state that is confidential in the possession of the entity providing the data remains confidential while in the possession of the secretary of state. No public office, and no public official or employee, shall sell that information or data or use that information or data for profit.

(b) Information provided under this division for maintenance of the statewide voter registration database shall not be used to update the name or address of a registered elector. The name or address of a registered elector shall only be updated as a result of the elector's actions in filing a notice of change of name, change of address, or both.

(c) A board of elections shall contact a registered elector pursuant to the rules adopted under division (D)(7) of this section to verify the accuracy of the information in the statewide voter registration database regarding that elector if that information does not conform with information provided under division (A)(2)(a) of this section and the discrepancy would affect the elector's eligibility to cast a regular ballot.

(3)(a) The secretary of state shall enter into agreements to share information or data that is in the possession of the secretary of state with other states or groups of states, as the secretary of state considers necessary, in order to maintain the statewide voter registration database established pursuant to this section. Except as otherwise provided in division (A)(3)(b) of this section, the secretary of state shall ensure that any information or data provided to the secretary of state that is confidential in the possession of the state providing the data remains confidential while in the possession of the secretary of state.

(b) The secretary of state may provide such otherwise confidential information or data to persons or organizations that are engaging in legitimate governmental purposes related to the maintenance of the statewide voter registration database. The secretary of state shall adopt rules pursuant to Chapter 119. of the Revised Code identifying the persons or organizations who may receive that information or data. The secretary of state shall not share that information or data with a person or organization not identified in those rules. The secretary of state shall ensure that a person or organization that receives confidential information or data under this division keeps the information or data confidential in the person's or organization's possession by, at a minimum, entering into a confidentiality agreement with the person or organization. Any confidentiality agreement entered into under this division shall include a requirement that the person or organization submit to the jurisdiction of this state in the event that the person or organization breaches the agreement.

(4) No person or entity that receives information or data under division (A)(3) of this section shall sell the information or data or use the information or data for profit.

(B) The statewide voter registration database established under this section shall be the official list of registered voters for all elections conducted in this state.

(C) The statewide voter registration database established under this section shall, at a minimum, include all of the following:

(1) An electronic network that connects all board of elections offices with the office of the secretary of state and with the offices of all other boards of elections;

(2) A computer program that harmonizes the records contained in the database with records maintained by each board of elections;

(3) An interactive computer program that allows access to the records contained in the database by each board of elections and by any persons authorized by the secretary of state to add, delete, modify, or print database records, and to conduct updates of the database;

(4) A search program capable of verifying registered voters and their registration information by name, driver's license number, birth date, social security number, or current address;

(5) Safeguards and components to ensure that the integrity, security, and confidentiality of the voter registration information is maintained;

(6) Methods to retain canceled voter registration records for not less than five years after they are canceled and to record the reason for their cancellation.

(D) The secretary of state shall adopt rules pursuant to Chapter 119. of the Revised Code doing all of the following:

(1) Specifying the manner in which existing voter registration records maintained by boards of elections shall be converted to electronic files for inclusion in the statewide voter registration database;

(2) Establishing a uniform method for entering voter registration records into the statewide voter registration database on an expedited basis, but not less than once per day, if new registration information is received;

(3) Establishing a uniform method for purging canceled voter registration records from the statewide voter registration database in accordance with section 3503.21 of the Revised Code;

(4) Specifying the persons authorized to add, delete, modify, or print records contained in the statewide voter registration database and to make updates of that database;

(5) Establishing a process for annually auditing the information contained in the statewide voter registration database;

(6) Establishing, by mutual agreement with the bureau of motor vehicles, the content and format of the information and data the bureau of motor vehicles shall provide to the secretary of state under division (A)(2)(a) of this section and the frequency with which the bureau shall provide that information and data;

(7) Establishing a uniform method for addressing instances in which records contained in the statewide voter registration database do not conform with records maintained by an agency, state, or group of states described in division (A)(2)(a) or (3)(a) of this section. That method shall prohibit an elector's voter registration from being canceled on the sole basis that the information in the registration record does not conform to records maintained by such an agency.

(E) A board of elections promptly shall purge a voter's name and voter registration information from the statewide voter registration database in accordance with the rules adopted by the secretary of state under division (D)(3) of this section after the cancellation of a voter's registration under section 3503.21 of the Revised Code.

(F) The secretary of state shall provide training in the operation of the statewide voter registration database to each board of elections and to any persons authorized by the secretary of state to add, delete, modify, or print database records, and to conduct updates of the database.

(G)(1) The statewide voter registration database established under this section shall be made available on a web site of the office of the secretary of state as follows:

(a) Except as otherwise provided in division (G)(1)(b) of this section, only the following information from the statewide voter registration database regarding a registered voter shall be made available on the web site:

(i) The voter's name;

(ii) The voter's address;

(iii) The voter's precinct number;

(iv) The voter's voting history.

(b) During the thirty days before the day of a primary or general election, the web site interface of the statewide voter registration database shall permit a voter to search for the polling location at which that voter may cast a ballot.

(2) The secretary of state shall establish, by rule adopted under Chapter 119. of the Revised Code, a process for boards of elections to notify the secretary of state of changes in the locations of precinct polling places for the purpose of updating the information made available on the secretary of state's web site under division (G)(1)(b) of this section. Those rules shall require a board of elections, during the thirty days before the day of a primary or general election, to notify the secretary of state within one business day of any change to the location of a precinct polling place within the county.

(3) During the thirty days before the day of a primary or general election, not later than one business day after receiving a notification from a county pursuant to division (G)(2) of this section that the location of a precinct polling place has changed, the secretary of state shall update that information on the secretary of state's web site for the purpose of division (G)(1)(b) of this section.

Sec. 3503.18.  (A)(1) The director of health shall file with the secretary of state, at least once each month, the names, social security numbers, dates of birth, dates of death, and residences of all persons, over eighteen years of age, who have died within this state or another state within such month. If the director is notified of the death of such a person after the director has filed the report for the month in which the person died, the director shall file with the secretary of state a supplemental report containing that information concerning the person not later than one month after the director is notified of the person's death.

(2) The secretary of state and the director of health shall jointly establish a secure electronic system through which they shall exchange the information described in division (A)(1) of this section regarding the death of a registered elector.

(B) At least once each month, each probate judge in this state shall file with the board of elections the names and residence addresses of all persons over eighteen years of age who have been adjudicated incompetent for the purpose of voting, as provided in section 5122.301 of the Revised Code. At

(C) At least once each month the clerk of the court of common pleas shall file with the board the names and residence addresses of all persons who have been convicted during the previous month of crimes that would disfranchise such persons under existing laws of the state. Reports of conviction of crimes under the laws of the United States that would disfranchise an elector and that are provided to the secretary of state by any United States attorney shall be forwarded by the secretary of state to the appropriate board of elections.

(D) Upon receiving a report required by this section, the board of elections shall promptly cancel the registration of each elector named in the report in accordance with section 3503.21 of the Revised Code. If the report contains a residence address of an elector in a county other than the county in which the board of elections is located, the director shall promptly send a copy of the report to the appropriate board of elections, which shall cancel the registration in accordance with that section.

Sec. 3503.21.  (A) The registration of a registered elector shall be canceled upon the occurrence of any of the following:

(1) The filing by a registered elector of a written request with a board of elections, on a form prescribed by the secretary of state and signed by the elector, that the registration be canceled. The filing of such a request does not prohibit an otherwise qualified elector from reregistering to vote at any time.

(2) The filing of a notice of the death of a registered elector as provided in section 3503.18 of the Revised Code;

(3) The filing with the board of elections of a certified copy of the death certificate of a registered elector by the deceased elector's spouse, parent, or child, by the administrator of the deceased elector's estate, or by the executor of the deceased elector's will;

(4) The conviction of the registered elector of a felony under the laws of this state, any other state, or the United States as provided in section 2961.01 of the Revised Code;

(3)(5) The adjudication of incompetency of the registered elector for the purpose of voting as provided in section 5122.301 of the Revised Code;

(5)(6) The change of residence of the registered elector to a location outside the county of registration in accordance with division (B) of this section;

(6)(7) The failure of the registered elector, after having been mailed a confirmation notice, to do either of the following:

(a) Respond to such a notice and vote at least once during a period of four consecutive years, which period shall include two general federal elections;

(b) Update the elector's registration and vote at least once during a period of four consecutive years, which period shall include two general federal elections.

(B)(1) The secretary of state shall prescribe procedures to identify and cancel the registration in a prior county of residence of any registrant who changes the registrant's voting residence to a location outside the registrant's current county of registration. Any procedures prescribed in this division shall be uniform and nondiscriminatory, and shall comply with the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The secretary of state may prescribe procedures under this division that include the use of the national change of address service provided by the United States postal system through its licensees. Any program so prescribed shall be completed not later than ninety days prior to the date of any primary or general election for federal office.

(2) The registration of any elector identified as having changed the elector's voting residence to a location outside the elector's current county of registration shall not be canceled unless the registrant is sent a confirmation notice on a form prescribed by the secretary of state and the registrant fails to respond to the confirmation notice or otherwise update the registration and fails to vote in any election during the period of two federal elections subsequent to the mailing of the confirmation notice.

(C) The registration of a registered elector shall not be canceled except as provided in this section, division (Q) of section 3501.05 of the Revised Code, division (C)(2) of section 3503.19 of the Revised Code, or division (C) of section 3503.24 of the Revised Code.

(D) Boards of elections shall send their voter registration information to the secretary of state as required under section 3503.15 of the Revised Code. The secretary of state may prescribe by rule adopted pursuant to section 111.15 of the Revised Code the format in which the boards of elections must send that information to the secretary of state. In the first quarter of each odd-numbered year, the secretary of state shall send the information to the national change of address service described in division (B) of this section and request that service to provide the secretary of state with a list of any voters sent by the secretary of state who have moved within the last thirty-six twelve months. The secretary of state shall transmit to each appropriate board of elections whatever lists the secretary of state receives from that service. The board shall send a notice to each person on the list transmitted by the secretary of state requesting confirmation of the person's change of address, together with a postage prepaid, preaddressed return envelope containing a form on which the voter may verify or correct the change of address information.

(E) The registration of a registered elector described in division (A)(6)(7) or (B)(2) of this section shall be canceled not later than one hundred twenty days after the date of the second general federal election in which the elector fails to vote or not later than one hundred twenty days after the expiration of the four-year period in which the elector fails to vote or respond to a confirmation notice, whichever is later.

(F)(1) When a registration is canceled pursuant to division (A)(2) or (3) of this section, the applicable board of elections shall send a written notice, on a form prescribed by the secretary of state, to the address at which the elector was registered, informing the recipient that the elector's registration has been canceled, of the reason for the cancellation, and that if the cancellation was made in error, the elector may contact the board of elections to correct the error.

(2) If the elector's registration is canceled pursuant to division (A)(2) or (3) of this section in error, it shall be restored and treated as though it were never canceled.

Sec. 3506.22. (A) Beginning in the year 2013 and thereafter, a county that selects direct recording electronic voting machines as the primary voting system to be used in the county and not only for accessibility for individuals with disabilities as required under the Help America Vote Act of 2002 and section 3506.19 of the Revised Code shall acquire, if needed, sufficient direct recording electronic voting machines to meet the minimum number of direct recording electronic voting machines required to be established by the secretary of state under division (B) of this section.

(B) Beginning in the year 2013 and every eight years thereafter, the secretary of state shall establish, for each county, a minimum number of direct recording electronic voting machines that the county shall be required to have if it elects to use direct recording electronic voting machines as the primary voting system in the county. The minimum number for each county shall be calculated as follows:

(1) The total number of registered voters in the county as of the October deadline for voter registration for the last presidential election or the average of the total number of registered voters in the county as of the October deadline for voter registration for the last two presidential elections, whichever number is higher, minus the total number of absent voter's ballots cast and counted at the last presidential election, shall be determined.

(2) The number resulting from the determination under division (B)(1) of this section shall be divided by one hundred seventy-five.

(3) Any fraction resulting from the calculation under division (B)(2) of this section shall be rounded up to the next whole number.

(C) A county that selects direct recording electronic voting machines as the primary voting system to be used in the county and not only for accessibility for individuals with disabilities as required under the Help America Vote Act of 2002 and section 3506.19 of the Revised Code after the effective date of this section May 2, 2006, but before the year 2013 shall do so in accordance with the formula set forth in Section 514.03 of Am. Sub. H.B. 66 of the 126th general assembly.

SECTION 2.  That existing sections 3503.11, 3503.15, 3503.18, 3503.21, and 3506.22 of the Revised Code are hereby repealed.