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Am. Sub. S. B. No. 200 As Enrolled
(130th General Assembly)
(Amended Substitute Senate Bill Number 200)
AN ACT
To amend sections 3503.11, 3503.15, 3503.18, 3503.21,
and 3506.22 of the Revised Code to modify the law
governing the statewide voter registration
database and the transmission of voter
registration information from the Bureau of Motor
Vehicles to the Secretary of State and to reduce
the minimum required number of direct recording
electronic voting machines.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Ohio:
SECTION 1. That sections 3503.11, 3503.15, 3503.18, 3503.21,
and 3506.22 of the Revised Code be amended to read as follows:
Sec. 3503.11. When any person applies for a driver's
license, commercial driver's license, a state of Ohio
identification card issued under section 4507.50 of the Revised
Code, or motorcycle operator's license or endorsement, or the
renewal or duplicate of any license or endorsement under Chapter
4506. or 4507. of the Revised Code, the registrar of motor
vehicles or deputy registrar shall offer the applicant the
opportunity to register to vote or to update the applicant's voter
registration. The registrar of motor vehicles or deputy registrar
also shall make available to all other customers voter
registration applications and change of residence and change of
name, forms, but is not required to offer assistance to these
customers in completing a voter registration application or other
form.
The registrar or deputy registrar shall send any completed
registration application or any completed change of residence or
change of name form that was completed and submitted in paper form
to the deputy registrar to the board of elections of the county in
which the office of the registrar or deputy registrar is located,
within five days after accepting the application or other form.
The registrar shall send any completed registration application
received at the bureau of motor vehicles headquarters location and
any completed change of residence or change of name form processed
electronically in systems or programs operated and maintained by
the bureau of motor vehicles to the secretary of state within five
days after accepting the application or other form.
The registrar shall collect from each deputy registrar
through the reports filed under division (J) of section 4503.03 of
the Revised Code and transmit to the secretary of state
information on the number of voter registration applications and
change of residence or change of name forms completed or declined,
and any additional information required by the secretary of state
to comply with the National Voter Registration Act of 1993. No
information relating to an applicant's decision to decline to
register or update the applicant's voter registration at the
office of the registrar or deputy registrar may be used for any
purpose other than voter registration record-keeping required by
the secretary of state, and all such information shall be kept
confidential.
The secretary of state shall prescribe voter registration
applications and change of residence and change of name forms for
use by the bureau of motor vehicles. The bureau of motor vehicles
shall supply all of its deputy registrars with a sufficient number
of voter registration applications and change of residence and
change of name 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 is collected in the course of normal
business and that is necessary to register to vote, to update an
elector's registration, or 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. No public office, and no
public official or employee, shall sell that information or data
or use that information or data for profit.
(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)(7) 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 cast a regular ballot.
(3)(a) The secretary of state shall enter into agreements to
share information or data that is in the possession of the
secretary of state 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 division (A)(3)(b) of
this section, 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.
(b) 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. The
secretary of state shall adopt rules pursuant to Chapter 119. of
the Revised Code identifying the persons or organizations who may
receive that information or data. The secretary of state shall not
share that information or data with a person or organization not
identified in those rules. The secretary of state shall ensure
that a person or organization that receives confidential
information or data under this division keeps the information or
data confidential in the person's or organization's possession by,
at a minimum, entering into a confidentiality agreement with the
person or organization. Any confidentiality agreement entered into
under this division shall include a requirement that the person or
organization submit to the jurisdiction of this state in the event
that the person or organization breaches the agreement.
(4) No person or entity that receives information or data
under division (A)(3) of this section shall sell the information
or data or use the information or data for profit.
(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 for
not less than five years after they are canceled 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, by mutual agreement with the bureau of
motor vehicles, the content and format of the information and data
the bureau of motor vehicles shall provide to the secretary of
state under division (A)(2)(a) of this section and the frequency
with which the bureau shall provide that information and data;
(7) 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,
state, or group of states described in division (A)(2)(a) or
(3)(a) of this section. That method shall prohibit an elector's
voter registration from being canceled on the sole basis that the
information in the registration record does not conform to records
maintained by such an agency.
(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:
(i) The voter's name;
(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. If the
director is notified of the death of such a person after the
director has filed the report for the month in which the person
died, the director shall file with the secretary of state a
supplemental report containing that information concerning the
person not later than one month after the director is notified of
the person's death.
(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. 3503.21. (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 the 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. 3506.22. (A) Beginning in the year 2013 and thereafter,
a county that selects direct recording electronic voting machines
as the primary voting system to be used in the county and not only
for accessibility for individuals with disabilities as required
under the Help America Vote Act of 2002 and section 3506.19 of the
Revised Code shall acquire, if needed, sufficient direct recording
electronic voting machines to meet the minimum number of direct
recording electronic voting machines required to be established by
the secretary of state under division (B) of this section.
(B) Beginning in the year 2013 and every eight years
thereafter, the secretary of state shall establish, for each
county, a minimum number of direct recording electronic voting
machines that the county shall be required to have if it elects to
use direct recording electronic voting machines as the primary
voting system in the county. The minimum number for each county
shall be calculated as follows:
(1) The total number of registered voters in the county as of
the October deadline for voter registration for the last
presidential election or the average of the total number of
registered voters in the county as of the October deadline for
voter registration for the last two presidential elections,
whichever number is higher, minus the total number of absent
voter's ballots cast and counted at the last presidential
election, shall be determined.
(2) The number resulting from the determination under
division (B)(1) of this section shall be divided by one hundred
seventy-five.
(3) Any fraction resulting from the calculation under
division (B)(2) of this section shall be rounded up to the next
whole number.
(C) A county that selects direct recording electronic voting
machines as the primary voting system to be used in the county and
not only for accessibility for individuals with disabilities as
required under the Help America Vote Act of 2002 and section
3506.19 of the Revised Code after the effective date of this
section May 2, 2006, but before the year 2013 shall do so in
accordance with the formula set forth in Section 514.03 of Am.
Sub. H.B. 66 of the 126th general assembly.
SECTION 2. That existing sections 3503.11, 3503.15, 3503.18,
3503.21, and 3506.22 of the Revised Code are hereby repealed.
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