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S. B. No. 175 As IntroducedAs Introduced
130th General Assembly | Regular Session | 2013-2014 |
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Cosponsors:
Senators Jones, Seitz, Lehner
A BILL
To amend sections 3503.14, 3503.15, 3503.18, and
3503.21 and to enact sections 3503.05, 3503.20,
3503.22, and 3509.031 of the Revised Code to
revise the law concerning voter registration and
requests for absent voter's ballots.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:
Section 1. That sections 3503.14, 3503.15, 3503.18, and
3503.21 be amended and sections 3503.05, 3503.20, 3503.22, and
3509.031 of the Revised Code be enacted to read as follows:
Sec. 3503.05. The secretary of state shall establish, by
rule, a uniform process for notifying individuals who have
submitted an incomplete voter registration application of the
incomplete status of that application. The process shall permit
such an individual to provide any information required to complete
the application.
Sec. 3503.14. (A) The secretary of state shall prescribe the
form and content of the registration, change of residence, and
change of name forms used in this state. The forms shall meet the
requirements of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 and
shall include spaces for all of the following:
(4) The voter's date of birth;
(5) The voter to provide one or more of the following:
(a) The voter's driver's license number, if any;
(b) The last four digits of the voter's social security
number, if any;
(c) A copy of a current and valid photo identification, a
copy of a military identification, or a copy of a current utility
bill, bank statement, government check, paycheck, or other
government document, other than a notice of voter registration
mailed by a board of elections under section 3503.19 of the
Revised Code, that shows the voter's name and address.
(6) The voter's signature.
The registration form shall include a space on which the
person registering an applicant shall sign the person's name and
provide the person's address and a space on which the person
registering an applicant shall name the employer who is employing
that person to register the applicant.
Except for forms prescribed by the secretary of state under
section 3503.11 of the Revised Code, the secretary of state shall
permit boards of elections to produce forms that have subdivided
spaces for each individual alphanumeric character of the
information provided by the voter so as to accommodate the
electronic reading and conversion of the voter's information to
data and the subsequent electronic transfer of that data to the
statewide voter registration database established under section
3503.15 of the Revised Code.
(B) None of the following persons who are registering an
applicant in the course of that official's or employee's normal
duties shall sign the person's name, provide the person's address,
or name the employer who is employing the person to register an
applicant on a form prepared under this section:
(1) An election official;
(3) A deputy registrar of motor vehicles;
(4) An employee of a designated agency;
(5) An employee of a public high school;
(6) An employee of a public vocational school;
(7) An employee of a public library;
(8) An employee of the office of a county treasurer;
(9) An employee of the bureau of motor vehicles;
(10) An employee of a deputy registrar of motor vehicles;
(11) An employee of an election official.
(C) Except as provided in section 3501.382 of the Revised
Code, any applicant who is unable to sign the applicant's own name
shall make an "X," if possible, which shall be certified by the
signing of the name of the applicant by the person filling out the
form, who shall add the person's own signature. If an applicant is
unable to make an "X," the applicant shall indicate in some manner
that the applicant desires to register to vote or to change the
applicant's name or residence. The person registering the
applicant shall sign the form and attest that the applicant
indicated that the applicant desired to register to vote or to
change the applicant's name or residence.
(D) No registration, change of residence, or change of name
form shall be rejected solely on the basis that a person
registering an applicant failed to sign the person's name or
failed to name the employer who is employing that person to
register the applicant as required under division (A) of this
section.
(E) A voter registration application submitted online through
the internet pursuant to section 3503.20 of the Revised Code is
not required to contain a signature to be considered valid. The
signature obtained under division (B) of that section shall be
considered the applicant's signature for all election and
signature-matching purposes.
(F) As used in this section, "registering an applicant"
includes any effort, for compensation, to provide voter
registration forms or to assist persons in completing or returning
those 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 the secretary of state considers necessary
in order 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.
(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)(6) 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 vote.
(3) The secretary of state shall enter into agreements to
share information or data 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 this
division, 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.
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.
(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 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 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
described in division (A)(2)(a) of this section.
(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:
(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.
(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. 3503.20. (A) The secretary of state, by rule adopted
under Chapter 119. of the Revised Code, shall establish a secure
online process for voter registration. The rules shall provide for
all of the following:
(1) An applicant to submit a voter registration application
to the secretary of state online through the internet;
(2) The online applicant to be registered to vote, if all of
the following apply:
(a) The application contains all of the required information,
including the last four digits of the applicant's social security
number;
(b) The applicant is qualified to register to vote; and
(c) The applicant attests to the truth and accuracy of the
information submitted in the online application under penalty of
election falsification using the applicant's Ohio driver's license
number or the number of the applicant's Ohio identification card
as proof of the applicant's identity.
(B) If an individual registers to vote or a registered
elector updates the elector's name, address, or both under this
section, the secretary of state shall obtain an electronic copy of
the applicant's or elector's signature that is on file with the
bureau of motor vehicles. That electronic signature shall be used
as the applicant's or elector's signature on voter registration
records, for all election and signature-matching purposes.
(C) The secretary of state shall employ whatever security
measures the secretary considers necessary to ensure the integrity
and accuracy of voter registration information submitted
electronically pursuant to this section. Errors in processing
voter registration applications in the online system shall not
prevent an applicant from becoming registered or from voting.
(D) The online voter registration application established
under division (A) of this section shall include the following
language:
"By clicking the box below, I affirm all of the following
under penalty of election falsification, which is punishable by a
maximum sentence of imprisonment for twelve months and a fine of
$2,500:
(1) I am the person whose name and identifying information is
provided on this form, and I desire to register to vote, or update
my voter registration, in the State of Ohio.
(2) All of the information I have provided on this form is
true and correct as of the date I am submitting this form.
(3) I authorize the Bureau of Motor Vehicles to transmit to
the Ohio Secretary of State my signature that is on file with the
Bureau of Motor Vehicles, and I understand and agree that the
signature transmitted by the Bureau of Motor Vehicles will be used
by the Secretary of State to validate this electronic voter
registration application as if I had signed this form personally."
In order to register to vote or update a voter registration
under division (A) of this section, an applicant or elector shall
be required to mark the box in the online voter registration
application that appears in conjunction with the previous
statement.
(E) The online voter registration process established under
division (A) of this section shall be in operation and available
for use by individuals who wish to register to vote or update
their voter registration information online not later than the
first day of July occurring not fewer than one hundred twenty days
after the effective date of this section. During the period
beginning twenty-nine days before the day of an election and
ending on the day of the election, the online voter registration
system shall display a notice indicating that the applicant will
not be registered to vote for the purposes of that election.
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 an 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. 3503.22. A board of elections may send an acknowledgment
notice as prescribed by the secretary of state to any registered
elector at any time to facilitate the maintenance and accuracy of
the statewide voter registration database.
Sec. 3509.031. (A) The secretary of state, by rule adopted
under Chapter 119. of the Revised Code, shall establish a secure
online process for applying to vote by absent voter's ballots. The
rules shall provide for all of the following:
(1) An elector to submit an application to vote by absent
voter's ballots online through the internet;
(2) The elector to be sent proper absent voter's ballots for
the applicable election, if all of the following apply:
(a) The application contains all of the required information;
(b) The elector is registered to vote and eligible to vote in
the election for which the elector is seeking absent voter's
ballots;
(c) The elector attests to the truth and accuracy of the
information submitted in the online application under penalty of
election falsification using the last four digits of the elector's
social security number and either the elector's Ohio driver's
license number or the elector's Ohio identification card number as
proof of the elector's identity.
(B) If an elector applies to vote by absent voter's ballots
under this section, the secretary of state shall obtain an
electronic copy of the elector's signature that is on file with
the statewide voter registration database. That electronic
signature shall be used as the elector's signature on the absent
voter's ballot application, for the purpose of matching the
signature with the elector's signature on the elector's voter
registration record.
(C) The secretary of state shall employ whatever security
measures the secretary considers necessary to ensure the integrity
and accuracy of information submitted electronically pursuant to
this section. Errors in processing applications for absent voter's
ballots in the online system shall not prevent an elector from
receiving absent voter's ballots.
(D) The online absent voter's ballot application established
under division (A) of this section shall include the following
language:
"By clicking the box below, I affirm all of the following
under penalty of election falsification, which is punishable by a
maximum sentence of imprisonment for twelve months and a fine of
$2,500:
(1) I am the person whose name and identifying information is
provided on this form, and I wish to receive an absent voter's
ballot for the specified election.
(2) All of the information I have provided on this form is
true and correct as of the date I am submitting this form.
(3) I authorize the Ohio Secretary of State to use my
signature that is on file with the statewide voter registration
database to validate this electronic absent voter's ballot
application as if I had signed this form personally."
In order to apply for absent voter's ballots under division
(A) of this section, an elector shall be required to mark the box
in the online absent voter's ballot application that appears in
conjunction with the previous statement.
(E) The online absent voter's ballot application process
shall inform the applicant that the board of elections must
receive the completed application not later than twelve noon of
the third day before the day of the election at which the ballots
are to be voted.
(F) The online absent voter's ballot application process
established under division (A) of this section shall be in
operation and available for use by individuals who wish to apply
to vote by absent voter's ballots not later than the first day of
July occurring not fewer than one hundred twenty days after the
effective date of this section.
Section 2. That existing sections 3503.14, 3503.15, 3503.18,
and 3503.21 of the Revised Code are hereby repealed.
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