Bill Text: VA HJR590 | 2017 | Regular Session | Prefiled
Bill Title: Study; JLARC; availability of sources for verifying information for voter registration purposes.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2017-01-26 - Tabled in Rules by voice vote [HJR590 Detail]
Download: Virginia-2017-HJR590-Prefiled.html
WHEREAS, implementation of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 and the Help America Vote Act of 2002, accompanied by fundamental changes in technology and means of communication, have radically altered the voter registration process; and
WHEREAS, while at one time most voters registered in person before a general registrar, today the largest number of voter registration applications are submitted through the state's computerized voter registration system or at a Department of Motor Vehicles facility; and
WHEREAS, more than five million voters are currently registered in the Commonwealth and population estimates suggest that number will only increase; and
WHEREAS, with the complexity of today's voter registration system and an increasing population in the Commonwealth, additional challenges can be anticipated that require initiatives to be identified to better place the Department of Elections and the general registrars in a position to ensure the most accurate and current voter registration list, thus protecting the integrity of the electoral process; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission be directed to study the availability of sources for verifying information for voter registration purposes.
In conducting its study, the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission shall investigate sources of information that would enable the Department of Elections and the general registrars to verify the information provided by applicants on voter registration applications and how access to such information could most efficiently and effectively be provided.
Technical assistance shall be provided to the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission by the Department of Elections. All agencies of the Commonwealth shall provide assistance to the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission for this study, upon request.
The Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission shall complete its meetings by November 30, 2017, and the director shall submit to the Division of Legislative Automated Systems an executive summary of its findings and recommendations no later than the first day of the 2018 Regular Session of the General Assembly. The executive summary shall state whether the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission intends to submit to the General Assembly and the Governor a report of its findings and recommendations for publication as a House or Senate document. The executive summary and report shall be submitted as provided in the procedures of the Division of Legislative Automated Systems for the processing of legislative documents and reports and shall be posted on the General Assembly's website.
