FIRST REGULAR SESSION
94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
INTRODUCED BY REPRESENTATIVES WRIGHT-JONES (Sponsor), RUCKER, NASHEED, BAKER (25), LeVOTA, STORCH, QUINN (9), HARRIS (23), SCHOEMEHL, KUESSNER, JOHNSON, AULL, CURLS, KOMO, ROORDA, LIESE, HODGES, McCLANAHAN, SCAVUZZO, LAMPE, HARRIS (110), BROWN (50), TODD, SCHIEFFER, HOLSMAN, SHIVELY, ZWEIFEL, DOUGHERTY, MEADOWS, SWINGER, LOWE (44), YOUNG, HUGHES, BLAND, DONNELLY, YAEGER, CHAPPELLE-NADAL, HAYWOOD, PAGE, DAUS, CASEY, ZIMMERMAN, KUESSNER, LOW (39), BURNETT, OXFORD, VILLA, GEORGE, WALSH, FALLERT, BRINGER AND SPRENG (Co-sponsors).
Read 1st time March 28, 2007 and copies ordered printed.
D. ADAM CRUMBLISS, Chief Clerk
AN ACT
To repeal sections 115.151, 115.155, and 115.160, RSMo, and to enact in lieu thereof three new sections relating to voter registration.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the state of Missouri, as follows:
Section A. Sections 115.151, 115.155, and 115.160, RSMo, are repealed and three new sections enacted in lieu thereof, to be known as sections 115.151, 115.155, and 115.160, to read as follows:
115.151. 1. Each qualified applicant who appears before the election authority shall be deemed registered as of the time the applicant's completed, signed and sworn registration application is witnessed by the election authority or deputy registration official.
2. Each applicant who registers by mail shall be deemed to be registered as of the date the application is postmarked, if such application is accepted and not rejected by the election authority and the verification notice required pursuant to section 115.155 is not returned as undeliverable by the postal service.
3. Each applicant who registers at a voter registration agency or the division of motor vehicle and drivers licensing of the department of revenue, except applicants who register under subsection 4 of this section, shall be deemed to be registered as of the date the application is signed by the applicant, if such application is accepted and not rejected by the election authority and the verification notice required pursuant to section 115.155 is not returned as undeliverable by the postal service. Voter registration agencies and the division of motor vehicle and drivers licensing of the department of revenue shall transmit voter registration application forms to the appropriate election authority not later than five business days after the form is completed by the applicant.
4. Each qualified applicant who registers at the division of motor vehicle and drivers licensing of the department of revenue while applying for, renewing, or changing an address on a driver's license or nondriver's license and who presents proof of lawful presence under section 302.171, RSMo, shall be deemed to be registered as of the date the application is completed and signed by the applicant in the presence of an agent of the division authorized to issue licenses under section 136.055, RSMo.
115.155. 1. The election authority shall provide for the registration of each voter. Each application shall be in substantially the following form:
APPLICATION FOR REGISTRATION Are you a citizen of the United States?
□ YES □ NO
Will you be 18 years of age on or before election day?
□ YES □ NO
IF YOU CHECKED "NO" IN RESPONSE TO EITHER OF THESE QUESTIONS, DO NOT COMPLETE THIS FORM.
IF YOU ARE SUBMITTING THIS FORM BY MAIL AND ARE REGISTERING FOR THE FIRST TIME, PLEASE SUBMIT A COPY OF A CURRENT, VALID PHOTO IDENTIFICATION. IF YOU DO NOT SUBMIT SUCH INFORMATION, YOU WILL BE REQUIRED TO PRESENT ADDITIONAL IDENTIFICATION UPON VOTING FOR THE FIRST TIME SUCH AS A BIRTH CERTIFICATE, A NATIVE AMERICAN TRIBAL DOCUMENT, OTHER PROOF OF UNITED STATES CITIZENSHIP, A VALID MISSOURI DRIVERS LICENSE OR OTHER FORM OF PERSONAL IDENTIFICATION.
.........................
Township (or Ward)
..................... .........................
Name Precinct
..................... ........................
Home Address Required Personal
Identification Information
.....................
City ZIP
...................... ......................
Date of Birth Place of Birth (Optional)
......................... .........................
Telephone Number Mother's Maiden Name
(Optional) (Optional)
........................... .........................
Occupation (Optional) Last Place Previously
Registered
.......................... .........................
Last four digits of Under What Name
Social Security Number
(Required for registration
unless no Social Security
number exists for Applicant)
Remarks:
....................
When
I am a citizen of the United States and a resident of the state of Missouri. I have not been adjudged incapacitated by any court of law. If I have been convicted of a felony or of a misdemeanor connected with the right of suffrage, I have had the voting disabilities resulting from such conviction removed pursuant to law. I do solemnly swear that all statements made on this card are true to the best of my knowledge and belief. I UNDERSTAND THAT IF I REGISTER TO VOTE KNOWING THAT I AM NOT LEGALLY ENTITLED TO REGISTER, I AM COMMITTING A CLASS ONE ELECTION OFFENSE AND MAY BE PUNISHED BY IMPRISONMENT OF NOT MORE THAN FIVE YEARS OR BY A FINE OF BETWEEN TWO THOUSAND FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS AND TEN THOUSAND DOLLARS OR BY BOTH SUCH IMPRISONMENT AND FINE.
....................... .........................
Signature of Voter Date
.........................................
Signature of Election Official
2. After supplying all information necessary for the registration records, each applicant who appears in person before the election authority shall swear or affirm the statements on the registration application by signing his or her full name, witnessed by the signature of the election authority or such authority's deputy registration official. Each applicant who applies to register by mail pursuant to section 115.159, or pursuant to section 115.160 or 115.162, shall attest to the statements on the application by his or her signature.
3. Upon receipt by mail of a completed and signed voter registration application[, a voter registration application forwarded by the division of motor vehicle and drivers licensing of the department of revenue pursuant to section 115.160,] or a voter registration agency pursuant to section 115.162, the election authority shall, if satisfied that the applicant is entitled to register, transfer all data necessary for the registration records from the application to its registration system. Within seven business days after receiving the application, the election authority shall send the applicant a verification notice. If such notice is returned as undeliverable by the postal service within the time established by the election authority, the election authority shall not place the applicant's name on the voter registration file.
4. If, upon receipt by mail of a voter registration application or a voter registration application forwarded pursuant to section [115.160 or] 115.162, the election authority determines that the applicant is not entitled to register, such authority shall, within seven business days after receiving the application, so notify the applicant by mail and state the reason such authority has determined the applicant is not qualified. The applicant may have such determination reviewed pursuant to the provisions of section 115.223. If an applicant for voter registration fails to answer the question on the application concerning United States citizenship, the election authority shall notify the applicant of the failure and provide the applicant with an opportunity to complete the form in a timely manner to allow for the completion of the registration form before the next election.
5. It shall be the responsibility of the secretary of state to prescribe specifications for voter registration documents so that they are uniform throughout the state of Missouri and comply with the National Voter Registration Act of 1993, including the reporting requirements, and so that registrations, name changes and transfers of registrations within the state may take place as allowed by law.
6. All voter registration applications shall be preserved in the office of the election authority.
115.160. 1. All Missouri driver's license applicants shall receive a single application form that also serves as a voter registration application [form] as a simultaneous part of the application for a driver's license, renewal of driver's license, change of address, duplicate request and a nondriver's license.
2. [If a single application form is used,] The voter registration application portion of any application described in subsection 1 of this section [may] shall not require any information that duplicates information required in the driver's license portion of the form, except a second signature or other information required by law.
3. After conferring with the secretary of state as the chief state election official responsible for overseeing of the voter registration process, the director of revenue shall adopt rules and regulations pertaining to the format of the voter registration application used by the department.
4. No information relating to the failure of an applicant for a driver's license or nondriver's license to sign a voter registration application may be used for any purpose other than voter registration.
5. Information shall be transmitted at least weekly by electronic means to the secretary of state. Under the Help America Vote Act of 2002, the computerized division of motor vehicle and drivers licensing record containing the voter's name, address, date of birth, driver's license number or nondriver's license number, county, city, town, or village, shall be made available for access by the secretary of state and interaction with the statewide voter registration system. Any voter registration application received pursuant to the provisions of this section shall be [forwarded] transmitted to the election authority located within that county or any city not within a county, or if there is more than one election authority within the county, then to the election authority located nearest to the location where the driver's license application was received. [The election authority receiving the application forms shall review the applications and forward any applications pertaining to a different election authority to that election authority.]
6. [A completed voter registration application accepted in the driver's licensing process shall be transmitted to the election authority described in subsection 5 of this section not later than five business days after the form is completed by the applicant.
7.] Any person registering to vote when applying for or renewing a Missouri driver's license or nondriver's license shall submit with the application form a copy of a birth certificate, a Native American tribal document, or other proof of United States citizenship, a valid Missouri driver's license, or other form of personal identification.
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