0299S.03C
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SENATE COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
SENATE BILL NO. 280
AN ACT
To repeal section 115.158, RSMo, and to enact in lieu
thereof one new section relating to voter
registration, with penalty provisions.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Missouri, as follows:
Section A. Section 115.158, RSMo, is repealed and one new
section enacted in lieu thereof, to be known as section 115.158,
to read as follows:
115.158. 1. The secretary of state shall implement a
centralized, interactive computerized statewi de voter
registration list. This computerized list shall be known as
the "Missouri Voter Registration System". The system shall
be implemented by January 1, 2004, unless a waiver is
obtained pursuant to the Help America Vote Act of 2002. If
a waiver is obtained, the system shall be implemented by
January 1, 2006. The system shall be maintained and
administered by the secretary of state and contain the name
and registration information of every legally registered
voter in Missouri. In addition, the system shall:
(1) Assign a unique identifier to each legally
registered voter in Missouri;
(2) Serve as the single system for storing and
managing the official list of registered voters throughout
Missouri;
(3) Be coordinated with other agency databases in
Missouri;
(4) Allow any election official in Missouri, including
local election authorities, immediate electronic access to
the information contained in the system;
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(5) Allow all voter registration information obta ined
by any local election official in Missouri to be
electronically entered into the system on an expedited basis
at the time the information is provided to the local
official. The secretary of state, as the chief state
election official, shall prov ide such support as may be
required so that local election officials are able to enter
the registration information; and
(6) Serve as the official voter registration list for
the conduct of all elections in Missouri.
2. The secretary of stat e and local election
authorities shall perform system maintenance on a regular
basis, which shall include:
(1) Removing names in accordance with the provisions
and procedures of the National Voter Registration Act of
1993 and coordinating system maintenance activities with
state agency records on death and felony status;
(2) Requiring the name of each registered voter to
appear in the system;
(3) Removing only voters who are not registered or who
are not eligible to vote; and
(4) Eliminating duplicate names from the system.
3. The secretary of state shall provide adequate
technological security measures to prevent the unauthorized
access to the system established pursuant to this section.
4. The secretary of state shall develop procedures to
ensure that voter registration records within the system are
accurate and updated regularly. At a minimum, the
procedures shall include:
(1) A system of file maintenance that makes a
reasonable effort to remove regis trants who are ineligible
to vote. Consistent with the National Voter Registration
Act of 1993, registrants who have not responded to a notice
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and who have not voted in two consecutive general elections
for federal office shall be removed from the off icial list
of eligible voters, except that no registrant may be removed
solely by reason of a failure to vote; and
(2) Safeguards to ensure that eligible voters are not
removed in error.
5. Voter registration information shall be verified in
accordance with the Help America Vote Act of 2002.
(1) Except as provided in subdivision (2) of this
subsection, an application for voter registration may not be
accepted or processed unless the application includes:
(a) In the case of an applicant who has been issued a
current and valid driver's license, the applicant's driver's
license number; or
(b) In the case of any other applicant, other than an
applicant to whom subdivision (2) applies, the last four
digits of the applicant' s Social Security number.
(2) If an applicant for voter registration has not
been issued a current and valid driver's license or a Social
Security number, the applicant shall be assigned a number
which will serve to identify the applicant for vote r
registration purposes. The number assigned under this
subdivision shall be used as the unique identifying number
within the system.
(3) The secretary of state and the director of the
department of revenue shall enter into an agreement to match
information in the database of the voter registration system
with information in the database of the motor vehicle
system, which shall include information pertaining to the
citizenship status of those within the department of
revenue's database, to enable the secretary to verify the
accuracy of information provided on applications for voter
registration.
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(4) The director of the department of revenue shall
enter into an agreement with the commissioner of Social
Security and comply with the He lp America Vote Act of 2002.
6. In addition to using the system for voter
registration, the election authorities and secretary of
state may use the system for the collection and
dissemination of election results and other pertinent
information. Any information contained in any state or
local voter registration system, limited to the master voter
registration list or any other list generated from the
information, subject to chapter 610, shall not be used for
commercial purposes; provided, howe ver, that the information
may be used for elections, for candidates, or for ballot
measures, furnished at a reasonable fee. Violation of this
section shall be a class B misdemeanor. For purposes of
this section, "commercial purposes" means the use of a
public record for the purpose of sale or resale or for the
purpose of producing a document containing all or part of
the copy, printout, or photograph for sale or the obtaining
of names and addresses from public records for the purpose
of solicitation or the sale of names and addresses to
another for the purpose of solicitation or for any purpose
in which the purchaser can reasonably anticipate the receipt
of monetary gain from the direct or indirect use of the
public record.
7. The secretary of state shall establish an advisory
committee to assist in the establishment and maintenance of
the Missouri voter registration system.
8. The secretary of state may promulgate rules to
execute this section. No rule or portion of a rule
promulgated pursuant to the authority of this section shall
become effective unless it has been promulgated pursuant to
chapter 536.
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9. Election authorities and any agency required under
the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 to accept voter
registration applications shall forward registration and
other data in a manner prescribed by the secretary of state
to assist with administering and maintaining the Missouri
voter registration system in accordance with the Help
America Vote Act of 2002.