Senate File 2078 - Introduced SENATE FILE 2078 BY SALMON A BILL FOR An Act relating to voter registration, including verification 1 of voter citizenship. 2 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA: 3 TLSB 5905XS (2) 90 ss/ns
S.F. 2078 Section 1. NEW SECTION . 48A.33A Verification of 1 citizenship. 2 1. The United States citizenship of each registrant shall 3 be verified as provided in subsection 2 before the person 4 is allowed to cast a regular ballot. The citizenship of a 5 registrant shall be verified as provided in subsection 2 only 6 once. 7 2. a. The registrar shall attempt to verify the citizenship 8 of the registrant using the drivers license database 9 maintained by the department of transportation. If the 10 registrar confirms that the registrant is a citizen of the 11 United States, the registrants voter registration shall be 12 made active and the registrant shall be allowed to cast a 13 regular ballot. 14 b. If the registrar is unable to verify the registrants 15 citizenship pursuant to paragraph a , the registrar shall 16 attempt to verify the registrants citizenship using 17 appropriate federal databases, including but not limited to 18 the systematic alien verification for entitlements system 19 and the e-verify system of the United States citizenship and 20 immigration services. If the registrar confirms that the 21 registrant is a citizen of the United States, the registrants 22 voter registration shall be made active and the registrant 23 shall be allowed to cast a regular ballot. 24 c. (1) If the registrar is unable to verify the 25 registrants citizenship pursuant to paragraph a or b , the 26 registrar shall inform the registrant by mail requesting that 27 the registrant produce one of the following documents verifying 28 the registrants United States citizenship: 29 (a) A birth certificate showing birth in the United States. 30 (b) A certificate of naturalization. 31 (c) A certification of citizenship. 32 (d) A report of birth abroad of a United States citizen. 33 (e) A United States passport. 34 (2) If the registrar confirms that the registrant is 35 -1- LSB 5905XS (2) 90 ss/ns 1/ 3
S.F. 2078 a citizen of the United States, the registrants voter 1 registration shall be made active and the registrant shall be 2 allowed to cast a regular ballot. If the registrar is unable 3 to confirm that the registrant is a United States citizen, the 4 registrant shall not be registered to vote. 5 3. The state registrar of voters shall verify the United 6 States citizenship of each registered voter as provided in 7 subsection 2 whose citizenship was not verified pursuant to 8 subsection 2 at the time of registration. The state registrar 9 of voters shall cancel the registration of a voter found to be 10 ineligible pursuant to section 48A.30. 11 4. This section does not prohibit a person whose voter 12 registration was rejected or canceled pursuant to this 13 section but who later attains United States citizenship from 14 registering to vote. 15 EXPLANATION 16 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with 17 the explanations substance by the members of the general assembly. 18 This bill relates to voter registration. 19 The bill requires a county commissioner of registration to 20 verify the U.S. citizenship of a person prior to registering 21 the person to vote and allowing the person to cast a regular 22 ballot. The bill requires the commissioner to first attempt to 23 verify the citizenship of the registrant using the department 24 of transportations drivers license database. If the 25 commissioner is unable to verify the registrants citizenship 26 using the drivers license database, the commissioner 27 shall attempt to do so using appropriate federal databases, 28 including but not limited to systematic alien verification 29 for entitlement and e-verify systems of the U.S. citizenship 30 and immigration services. If the commissioner cannot verify 31 the registrants citizenship using federal databases, the 32 commissioner shall request that the registrant produce a 33 document, listed in the bill, that verifies the registrants 34 citizenship. If the commission is unable to verify the 35 -2- LSB 5905XS (2) 90 ss/ns 2/ 3
S.F. 2078 registrants citizenship, the registrant shall not be 1 registered to vote. The bill requires the state registrar of 2 voters to verify the U.S. citizenship of current registered 3 voters and to cancel the registration of registered voters 4 whose citizenship cannot be verified. 5 -3- LSB 5905XS (2) 90 ss/ns 3/ 3