EXPLANATION-Matter enclosed in bold-faced brackets [thus] in this bill is not enacted
and is intended to be omitted in the law.
FIRST REGULAR SESSION
SENATE BILL NO. 444
103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
INTRODUCED BY SENATOR WASHINGTON.
0807S.01I KRISTINA MARTIN, Secretary
AN ACT
To repeal sections 115.158 and 115.221, RSMo, and to enact in lieu thereof two new sections
relating to voter registration, with an existing penalty provision.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Missouri, as follows:
Section A. Sections 115.158 and 115.221, RSMo, are 1
repealed and two new sections enacted in lieu thereof, to be 2
known as sections 115.158 and 115.221, to read as follows:3
115.158. 1. The secretary of state shall implement a 1
centralized, interactive computerized statewide voter 2
registration list. This computerized list shall be known as 3
the "Missouri Voter Registration Sys tem". The system shall 4
be implemented by January 1, 2004, unless a waiver is 5
obtained pursuant to the Help America Vote Act of 2002. If 6
a waiver is obtained, the system shall be implemented by 7
January 1, 2006. The system shall be maintained and 8
administered by the secretary of state and contain the name 9
and registration information of every legally registered 10
voter in Missouri. In addition, the system shall: 11
(1) Assign a unique identifier to each legally 12
registered voter in Missouri; 13
(2) Serve as the single system for storing and 14
managing the official list of registered voters throughout 15
Missouri; 16
(3) Be coordinated with other agency databases in 17
Missouri; 18 SB 444 2
(4) Allow any election official in Missouri, including 19
local election authorities, immediate electronic access to 20
the information contained in the system; 21
(5) Allow all voter registration information obtained 22
by any local election official in Missouri to be 23
electronically entered into the system on an expedit ed basis 24
at the time the information is provided to the local 25
official. The secretary of state, as the chief state 26
election official, shall provide such support as may be 27
required so that local election officials are able to enter 28
the registration information; and 29
(6) Serve as the official voter registration list for 30
the conduct of all elections in Missouri. 31
2. Except as provided for in subsection 10 of this 32
section, the secretary of state and local election 33
authorities shall perform sy stem maintenance on a regular 34
basis, which shall include: 35
(1) Removing names in accordance with the provisions 36
and procedures of the National Voter Registration Act of 37
1993 and coordinating system maintenance activities with 38
state agency records on death and felony status; 39
(2) Requiring the name of each registered voter to 40
appear in the system; 41
(3) Removing only voters who are not registered or who 42
are not eligible to vote; and 43
(4) Eliminating duplicate names from the system. 44
3. The secretary of state shall provide adequate 45
technological security measures to prevent the unauthorized 46
access to the system established pursuant to this section. 47
4. The secretary of state shall develop procedures to 48
ensure that voter re gistration records within the system are 49 SB 444 3
accurate and updated regularly. At a minimum, the 50
procedures shall include: 51
(1) A system of file maintenance that makes a 52
reasonable effort to remove registrants who are ineligible 53
to vote. Consistent with the National Voter Registration 54
Act of 1993, registrants who have not responded to a notice 55
and who have not voted in two consecutive general elections 56
for federal office shall be removed from the official list 57
of eligible voters, except that no reg istrant may be removed 58
solely by reason of a failure to vote; and 59
(2) Safeguards to ensure that eligible voters are not 60
removed in error. 61
5. Voter registration information shall be verified in 62
accordance with the Help America Vote Act of 200 2. 63
(1) Except as provided in subdivision (2) of this 64
subsection, an application for voter registration may not be 65
accepted or processed unless the application includes: 66
(a) In the case of an applicant who has been issued a 67
current and valid driver's license, the applicant's driver's 68
license number; or 69
(b) In the case of any other applicant, other than an 70
applicant to whom subdivision (2) applies, the last four 71
digits of the applicant's Social Security number. 72
(2) If an applicant for voter registration has not 73
been issued a current and valid driver's license or a Social 74
Security number, the applicant shall be assigned a number 75
which will serve to identify the applicant for voter 76
registration purposes. The number assigned und er this 77
subdivision shall be used as the unique identifying number 78
within the system. 79
(3) The secretary of state and the director of the 80
department of revenue shall enter into an agreement to match 81 SB 444 4
information in the database of the voter registr ation system 82
with information in the database of the motor vehicle system 83
to enable the secretary to verify the accuracy of 84
information provided on applications for voter registration. 85
(4) The director of the department of revenue shall 86
enter into an agreement with the commissioner of Social 87
Security and comply with the Help America Vote Act of 2002. 88
6. In addition to using the system for voter 89
registration, the election authorities and secretary of 90
state may use the system for the collec tion and 91
dissemination of election results and other pertinent 92
information. Any information contained in any state or 93
local voter registration system, limited to the master voter 94
registration list or any other list generated from the 95
information, subject to chapter 610, shall not be used for 96
commercial purposes; provided, however, that the information 97
may be used for elections, for candidates, or for ballot 98
measures, furnished at a reasonable fee. Violation of this 99
section shall be a class B misd emeanor. For purposes of 100
this section, "commercial purposes" means the use of a 101
public record for the purpose of sale or resale or for the 102
purpose of producing a document containing all or part of 103
the copy, printout, or photograph for sale or the obta ining 104
of names and addresses from public records for the purpose 105
of solicitation or the sale of names and addresses to 106
another for the purpose of solicitation or for any purpose 107
in which the purchaser can reasonably anticipate the receipt 108
of monetary gain from the direct or indirect use of the 109
public record. 110
7. The secretary of state shall establish an advisory 111
committee to assist in the establishment and maintenance of 112
the Missouri voter registration system. 113 SB 444 5
8. The secretary of state ma y promulgate rules to 114
execute this section. No rule or portion of a rule 115
promulgated pursuant to the authority of this section shall 116
become effective unless it has been promulgated pursuant to 117
chapter 536. 118
9. Election authorities and any agency r equired under 119
the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 to accept voter 120
registration applications shall forward registration and 121
other data in a manner prescribed by the secretary of state 122
to assist with administering and maintaining the Missouri 123
voter registration system in accordance with the Help 124
America Vote Act of 2002. 125
10. Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection 2 of 126
this section to the contrary, the secretary of state shall 127
not remove a registered voter from the system due to 128
inactivity unless it has been more than five calendar years 129
since the registered voter last voted. Before removing 130
voters after five calendar years of inactivity, the 131
secretary of state shall provide written notice to the 132
registered voter with instructi ons for re-registration. 133
115.221. Notwithstanding any other provisions of law 1
to the contrary, each election authority may have the voting 2
records inspected and may investigate the qualifications of 3
any person who has not voted or tr ansferred his registration 4
within the [four] five preceding calendar years. 5