Reference is to Printer's Date 12/18/2018-H.
Amend the bill, as and if amended, by striking all after the enacting words and inserting:
/ SECTION 1. Section 7-5-150 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 7-5-150.
The registration books shall must
be closed thirty twenty-four days before
each election, but only as to that election or
any a second race or runoff resulting
from that election, and shall remain closed until the election
has taken place, anything in this article to the contrary
notwithstanding; provided, that however,
the registration books shall must be
closed thirty twenty-four days before
the June primary and shall remain closed until after the second
primary and shall likewise be closed thirty
twenty-four days before the November general election.
They shall thereafter After that, the
registration books must be opened from time to time in
accordance with the provisions of this article.
Any A person eligible to register who
has been discharged or separated from his service in the Armed
Forces of the United States, and returned home too late to
register at the time when registration is required, is entitled
to register for the purpose of voting in the next ensuing
election after the discharge or separation from service, up to
5:00 five o'clock p.m. on the day of the
election. This application for registration must be made at the
office of the board of voter registration and elections in the
county in which the person wishes to register, and if qualified,
the person must be issued a registration notification stating
the precinct in which he the person is
entitled to vote and a certification to the managers of the
precinct that he the person is entitled
to vote and should be placed on the registration rolls of the
precinct. Persons who become of age during this period of
thirty twenty-four days
shall must be entitled to register
before the closing of the books if otherwise qualified."
SECTION 2. Section 7-5-155 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 7-5-155.
(a)(A)
Notwithstanding any other another
provision of law, the following procedures may be used in the
registration of electors in addition to the procedure otherwise
provided by law.
(1)
Subject to the provision of Section 7-5-150,
any a qualified citizen may register to
vote by mailing or having delivered a completed state
registration by mail application form or a completed national
registration by mail application form prescribed by the Federal
Election Commission not no later than
thirty twenty-five days before
any an election to his county board of
voter registration and elections. The postmark date of a mailed
application is considered the date of mailing. If the postmark
date is missing or illegible, the county board of voter
registration and elections must accept the application if it is
received by mail no later than five days after the close of the
registration books before any an
election.
(2)
If the county board of voter registration and elections
determines that the applicant is qualified and his application
is legible and complete, the board shall mail the voter written
notification of approval on a form to be prescribed and provided
by the State Election Commission pursuant to Section 7-5-180.
When the county board of voter registration and elections mails
the written notification of approval, it must do so without
requiring the elector to sign anything in the presence of a
member of the board, a deputy member, or a registration clerk,
and the attestation of the elector's signature is not required
so long as the conditions set forth above are met.
(3)
Any An application must be
rejected for any of the following reasons:
(i)(a)
any a portion of the application
is not complete;
(ii)(b)
any a portion of the application
is illegible in the opinion of a member and the clerk of the
board;
(iii)(c) the
board is unable to determine, from the address stated on the
application, the precinct in which the voter should be assigned
or the election districts in which he the
voter is entitled to vote.
(4)
Any A person whose application is
rejected must be notified of the rejection together with the
reason for rejection. The applicant must further be informed
that he the applicant still has a right
to register by appearing in person before the county board of
voter registration and elections or by submitting the
information by mail necessary to correct his
the applicant's rejected application. The form for
notifying applicants of rejection must be prescribed and
provided by the State Election Commission pursuant to Section
7-5-180.
(b)(B)
Every application for registration by mail shall
contain spaces for the home and work telephone numbers of the
applicant and the applicant shall enter the numbers on the
application where applicable.
(c)(C)
The State Election Commission shall furnish a
sufficient number of application forms to the county boards of
voter registration and elections and voter registration agencies
specified in Section 7-5-310(B) so that
distribution of the application forms may be made to various
locations throughout the counties and mailed to persons
requesting them.
County boards of voter registration and
elections shall distribute application forms to various
locations in their respective counties, including city halls and
public libraries, where they must be readily available to the
public.
(d)(D)
The original applications must remain on file in
the office of the county board of voter registration and
elections.
(e)(E)
The State Election Commission may promulgate
regulations to implement the provisions of this section."
SECTION 3. Section 7-5-185(B)(1) of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"(1) An
application submitted pursuant to this section is effective upon
receipt of the application by the State Election Commission if
the application is received thirty
twenty-five days before an election to be held in the
precinct of the person submitting the application."
SECTION 4. Section 7-5-220 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 7-5-220.
Except as provided in Section 7-5-150, registration made
thirty twenty-four days or less before
any an election is not valid for that
election or any a second race or runoff
resulting from that election but such
the registration shall be is
valid in any other another
election."
SECTION 5. Section 7-5-330 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 7-5-330.
(A) In the case of registration with a
motor vehicle application under Section 7-5-320, the valid voter
registration form of the applicant must be completed at the
Department of Motor Vehicles no later than
thirty twenty-five days before the date
of the election.
(B) In the case of
registration by mail under Section 7-5-155, the valid voter
registration form of the applicant must be postmarked no later
than thirty twenty-five days before the
date of the election.
(C) In the case of
registration at a voter registration agency, the valid voter
registration form of the applicant must be completed at the
voter registration agency no later than thirty
twenty-five days before the date of the election.
(D) In any other case,
the valid voter registration form of the applicant must be
received by the county board of voter registration and elections
no later than thirty twenty-five days
before the date of the election.
(E)(1) The county board
of voter registration and elections shall:
(a)
send notice to each applicant of the disposition of the
application; and
(b)
ensure that the identity of the voter registration agency
through which a particular voter is registered is not disclosed
to the public.
(2)
If the notice sent pursuant to the provisions of subitem
(a) of this item is returned to the county board of voter
registration and elections as undeliverable, the elector to whom
it was sent must be reported by the board to the State Election
Commission. The State Election Commission must place the
elector in an inactive status on the master file and may remove
this elector upon compliance with the provisions of Section
7-5-330(F).
(F)(1) The State
Election Commission may not remove the name of a qualified
elector from the official list of eligible voters on the ground
that the qualified elector has changed residence unless the
qualified elector:
(a)
confirms in writing that the qualified elector has changed
residence to a place outside the county in which the qualified
elector is registered; or
(b)(i)
has failed to respond to a notice described in item (2);
and
(ii)
has not voted or appeared to vote and, if necessary,
correct the county board of voter registration and elections
record of the qualified elector's address, in an election during
the period beginning on the date of the notice and ending on the
day after the date of the second general election that occurs
after the date of the notice.
(2)
'Notice', as used in this item, means a postage prepaid
and preaddressed return card, sent by forwardable mail, on which
the qualified elector may state his current address, together
with a statement to the following effect:
(a)
if the qualified elector did not change his residence, or
changed residence but remained in the same county, the qualified
elector shall return the card no later than
thirty twenty-five days before the date
of the election. If the card is not returned, affirmation or
confirmation of the qualified elector's address may be required
before the qualified elector is permitted to vote during the
period beginning on the date of the notice and ending on the day
after the date of the second general election that occurs after
the date of the notice, and if the qualified elector does not
vote in an election during that period, the qualified elector's
name must be removed from the list of eligible voters;
(b)
if the qualified elector has changed residence to a place
outside the county in which the qualified elector is registered,
information as to how the qualified elector can reregister to
vote.
(3)
The county board of voter registration and elections shall
correct an official list of eligible voters in accordance with
change of residence information obtained pursuant to the
provisions of this subsection.
(4)
The program required pursuant to the provisions of
subsection (F) of this section must be completed no later than
ninety days before the date of a statewide primary or general
election."
SECTION 6. Section 7-5-440(B) of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"(B) A qualified
elector who has moved from an address in one precinct to an
address in another precinct within the same county, or has moved
to another county within the thirty-day
twenty-five day period before an election, and who has
failed to notify the county board of voter registration and
elections of the change of address before the date of an
election, at the option of the elector:
(1)
must be permitted to correct the voting records and vote
provisional ballots containing only the races for federal,
statewide, countywide, and municipalwide offices pursuant to the
provisions of Section 7-13-830 at the elector's former polling
place, upon oral or written affirmation by the elector of the
new address before an election official at that polling place;
or
(2)
must be permitted to correct the voting records and vote
at a central location located at the main office of the county
board of voter registration and elections in his new county of
residence where a list of eligible voters is maintained, upon
written affirmation by the elector of the new address on a
standard form provided at the central location."
SECTION 7. Section 7-7-990(A)(2) of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"(2)
Elector has applied in writing to and obtained from
the county board of voter registration and elections
thirty twenty-five days before the
election a voting registration transfer authorizing the elector
to vote at the county barrier-free polling place. An elector
whose physical handicap, as defined in item (1) of this
subsection, is permanent, as certified by a licensed
physician, is not required to register once he has done so
initially under the provisions of this item."
SECTION 8. Section 7-15-120 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 7-15-120.
Persons listed in Section 7-15-110, their spouses, and
dependents residing with them, may register by using either
federal Standard Form 76, or any a
subsequent form replacing it issued by the federal government.
In order to be registered, either form must reach the county
board of voter registration and elections not
no later than thirty twenty-five
days before the election."
SECTION 9. This act
takes effect upon approval by the Governor.
/
Renumber sections to conform.
Amend title to conform.