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HF 1053

as introduced - 86th Legislature (2009 - 2010) Posted on 02/09/2010 01:43am

KEY: stricken = removed, old language.
underscored = added, new language.
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A bill for an act
 relating to elections; requiring certain public officials to provide additional data
to the secretary of state for use in maintaining the voter registration system;
providing for automatic voter registration of applicants for a driver's license,
instruction permit, or identification card; amending Minnesota Statutes 2008,
sections 201.13, by adding a subdivision; 201.14; 201.15, subdivisions 1, 2;
201.155; 201.161; proposing coding for new law in Minnesota Statutes, chapter
201.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

Section 1.

Minnesota Statutes 2008, section 201.13, is amended by adding a
subdivision to read:


new text begin Subd. 1a. new text end

new text begin Social Security Administration; reports of deceased residents.
 new text end

new text begin The secretary of state may determine if any of the persons listed on the Social Security
Death Index are registered to vote and prepare a list of those registrants for each county
auditor. The county auditor shall change the status of those registrants to "deceased"
in the statewide voter registration system.
 new text end

Sec. 2.

Minnesota Statutes 2008, section 201.14, is amended to read:


201.14 COURT ADMINISTRATOR OF DISTRICT COURT; REPORT
CHANGES OF NAMES.

The new text begin state new text end court administrator deleted text begin of district court in each countydeleted text end shall new text begin regularly new text end report
deleted text begin monthlydeleted text end new text begin by electronic meansnew text end to the deleted text begin county auditordeleted text end new text begin secretary of statenew text end the name deleted text begin anddeleted text end new text begin ,
new text end addressnew text begin , driver's license or state identification card number, and the last four digits of the
individual's Social Security number, if available, new text end of each individual, 18 years of age or
overdeleted text begin , who maintains residence in that county anddeleted text end whose name was changed during the
month preceding the date of the report, by marriage, divorce or any order or decree of
the court. new text begin The secretary of state shall determine if any of the persons in the report are
registered to vote under their previous name and shall prepare a list of those registrants for
each county auditor. new text end Upon receipt of the deleted text begin reportdeleted text end new text begin listnew text end , the county auditor shall deleted text begin notify by mail
each registered voter whose name was changed that it will be necessary to reregister under
the changed name in order to votedeleted text end new text begin make the change in the voter's record and mail to the
voter the notice of registration required by section 201.121, subdivision 2new text end .

Sec. 3.

Minnesota Statutes 2008, section 201.15, subdivision 1, is amended to read:


Subdivision 1.

Guardianships and incompetents.

Pursuant to the Help America
Vote Act of 2002, Public Law 107-252, the state court administrator shall report monthly
by electronic means to the secretary of state the name, address, deleted text begin anddeleted text end date of birthnew text begin , driver's
license or state identification card number, and the last four digits of the individual's Social
Security number, if available, new text end of each individual 18 years of age or over, who during
the month preceding the date of the report:

deleted text begin (a)deleted text end new text begin (1)new text end was placed under a guardianship in which the court order revokes the ward's
right to vote; or

deleted text begin (b)deleted text end new text begin (2)new text end was adjudged legally incompetent.

The court administrator shall also report the same information for each individual
transferred to the jurisdiction of the court who meets a condition specified in clause deleted text begin (a)deleted text end new text begin
(1)new text end or deleted text begin (b)deleted text end new text begin (2)new text end . The secretary of state shall determine if any of the persons in the report is
registered to vote and shall prepare a list of those registrants for the county auditor. The
county auditor shall change the status on the record in the statewide registration system
of any individual named in the report to indicate that the individual is not eligible to
reregister or vote.

Sec. 4.

Minnesota Statutes 2008, section 201.15, subdivision 2, is amended to read:


Subd. 2.

Guardianship termination or modification.

Pursuant to the Help
America Vote Act of 2002, Public Law 107-252, the state court administrator shall report
monthly by electronic means to the secretary of state the name, address, deleted text begin anddeleted text end date of
birthnew text begin , driver's license or state identification card number, and the last four digits of the
individual's Social Security number, if available, new text end of each individual whose guardianship
was modified to restore the ward's right to vote or whose guardianship was terminated
by order of the court under section 524.5-317 after being ineligible to vote for any of the
reasons specified in subdivision 1. The secretary of state shall determine if any of the
persons in the report is registered to vote and shall prepare a list of those registrants for
the county auditor. The county auditor shall change the status on the voter's record in the
statewide registration system to "active."

Sec. 5.

Minnesota Statutes 2008, section 201.155, is amended to read:


201.155 REPORT ON FELONY CONVICTIONS.

Pursuant to the Help America Vote Act of 2002, Public Law 107-252, the state court
administrator shall report monthly by electronic means to the secretary of state the name,
address, date of birth, new text begin driver's license or state identification card number, the last four
digits of the individual's Social Security number, if available, new text end date of sentence, effective
date of the sentence, and county in which the conviction occurred of each person who
has been convicted of a felony. The state court administrator shall also report the name,
address, and date of birth of each person previously convicted of a felony whose civil
rights have been restored. The secretary of state shall determine if any of the persons in
the report is registered to vote and shall prepare a list of those registrants for each county
auditor. The county auditor shall change the status of those registrants in the appropriate
manner in the statewide registration system.

Sec. 6.

new text begin [201.156] REPORT ON CIVIL RIGHTS REINSTATEMENT.
 new text end

new text begin As required by the Help America Vote Act of 2002, Public Law 107-252, the
commissioner of corrections shall report monthly by electronic means to the secretary of
state the name, address, date of birth, driver's license or state identification card number,
and the last four digits of the individual's Social Security number, if available, of each
person previously convicted of a felony who was under the commissioner's jurisdiction
whose civil rights have been restored. The secretary of state shall determine if any of the
persons in the report are registered to vote and shall prepare a list of those registrants for
each county auditor. The county auditor shall review the list and update the address,
as necessary, and remove the felony conviction status attached to the registrant in the
statewide registration system.
 new text end

Sec. 7.

new text begin [201.157] USE OF DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS DATA.
 new text end

new text begin As required by the Help America Vote Act of 2002, Public Law 107-252, the
commissioner of corrections shall make electronic data on individuals currently serving
felony sentences under the commissioner's jurisdiction available to the secretary of state.
At least monthly, the secretary of state must determine:
 new text end

new text begin (1) if any individual with an active voter registration in the statewide registration
system is currently serving a felony sentence and if the individual's civil rights have
been revoked; and
new text end

new text begin (2) if any individual with a voter record that has a challenged status due to a felony
conviction has completed their sentence and if the individual's civil rights have been
restored.
 new text end

new text begin The secretary of state shall prepare a list of the registrants included under clause (1) or
(2) for each county auditor. The county auditor shall change the status of registrants
included in the list in the statewide registration system to reflect the determination made
by the secretary of state.
 new text end

Sec. 8.

new text begin [201.158] USE OF DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY DATA.
 new text end

new text begin As required by the Help America Vote Act of 2002, Public Law 107-252, the
commissioner of public safety shall make electronic data on citizenship available to the
secretary of state. At least monthly, the secretary of state must determine whether the data
indicate that any individuals who have active records in the statewide voter registration
system are not citizens. The secretary of state shall prepare an electronic list of those
voters for each county auditor. The county auditor shall change the status of those
registrants in the statewide registration system to reflect that they are challenged based
upon their citizenship and must notify the county attorney.
 new text end

Sec. 9.

Minnesota Statutes 2008, section 201.161, is amended to read:


201.161 new text begin AUTOMATIC REGISTRATION OF new text end DRIVER'S LICENSEnew text begin ,
INSTRUCTION PERMIT,new text end AND IDENTIFICATION CARD deleted text begin APPLICATIONSdeleted text end new text begin
APPLICANTSnew text end .

new text begin Subdivision 1. new text end

new text begin Automatic registration. new text end

new text begin An individual who properly completes
an application for a new or renewed Minnesota driver's license, instruction permit, or
identification card, and who is eligible to vote under section 201.014, must be registered to
vote as provided in this section, unless the applicant declines to be registered.
 new text end

new text begin Subd. 2. new text end

new text begin Applications. new text end

The deleted text begin Departmentdeleted text end new text begin commissionernew text end of public safetynew text begin , in
consultation with the secretary of state,new text end shall change deleted text begin itsdeleted text end new text begin thenew text end applications for an original,
duplicate, or change of address driver's licensenew text begin , instruction permit,new text end or identification card so
that the forms may also serve as voter registration applications. The forms must contain
spaces for all information collected by voter registration applications prescribed by the
secretary of statenew text begin and a box for the applicant to decline to be registered to votenew text end . deleted text begin Applicants
for driver's licenses or identification cards must be asked if they want to register to vote
at the same time and thatdeleted text end new text begin Unless the applicant has declined to be registered to vote, the
commissioner shall transmit the new text end information deleted text begin must be transmitted at least weeklydeleted text end new text begin daily new text end by
electronic means to the secretary of state. Pursuant to the Help America Vote Act of 2002,
Public Law 107-252, the computerized driver's license record containing the voter's name,
address, date of birth,new text begin citizenship, new text end driver's license number or state identification number,
county, deleted text begin town, anddeleted text end citynew text begin or town, and signaturenew text end must be made available for access by the
secretary of state and interaction with the statewide voter registration system.

new text begin Subd. 3. new text end

new text begin Registration. new text end

new text begin (a) The secretary of state shall determine whether the
applicant is currently registered in the statewide voter registration system. For each
currently registered voter whose registration is not changed, the secretary of state shall
update the voter's registration date in the statewide voter registration system. For each
currently registered voter whose registration is changed, the secretary of state shall
transmit the registration daily by electronic means to the county auditor of the county
where the voter resides.
 new text end

new text begin (b) If the applicant is not currently registered in the statewide voter registration
system, the secretary of state shall determine whether the applicant is 18 years of age or
older and a citizen of the United States and compare the voter registration information
received from the commissioner of public safety with the information on wards,
incompetents, and felons received from the state court administrator under sections 201.15
and 201.155 to determine whether the applicant is eligible to vote. If an applicant is
less than 18 years of age, the secretary of state shall wait until the applicant has turned
18 years of age to determine whether the applicant is eligible to vote. For each applicant
the secretary of state determines is an eligible voter, the secretary of state shall transmit
the registration daily by electronic means to the county auditor of the county where the
voter resides.
 new text end

new text begin Subd. 4. new text end

new text begin Notice. new text end

new text begin Upon receipt of the registration, the county auditor shall mail to
the voter the notice of registration required by section new text begin 201.121, subdivision 2new text end .
 new text end

new text begin Subd. 5. new text end

new text begin Effective date. new text end

new text begin An application for registration that is dated during the 20
days before an election in any jurisdiction within which the voter resides is not effective
until the day after the election.
 new text end new text begin new text end

Sec. 10. new text begin EFFECTIVE DATE.
new text end

new text begin Subdivision 1. new text end

new text begin Generally. new text end

new text begin Sections 1 to 8 are effective the day following
certification by the secretary of state that the statewide voter registration system has been
tested and is capable of performing the functions required under sections 1 to 8. Section 9
is effective August 1, 2009, except as provided in this section.
 new text end

new text begin Subd. 2. new text end

new text begin Automatic registration. new text end

new text begin An applicant for a Minnesota driver's license,
instruction permit, or identification card must not be registered to vote under section 9
until the secretary of state has certified that the system for automatic registration of those
applicants has been tested and is capable of properly determining whether an applicant
is eligible to vote.
 new text end