SECOND REGULAR SESSION
94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
INTRODUCED BY REPRESENTATIVES BOWMAN (Sponsor), TALBOY, DARROUGH AND HUGHES (Co-sponsors).
Read 1st time January 24, 2008 and copies ordered printed.
D. ADAM CRUMBLISS, Chief Clerk
AN ACT
To repeal sections 115.135, 115.145, 115.162, and 115.425, RSMo, and to enact in lieu thereof four new sections relating to voter registration.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the state of Missouri, as follows:
Section A. Sections 115.135, 115.145, 115.162, and 115.425, RSMo, are repealed and four new sections enacted in lieu thereof, to be known as sections 115.135, 115.145, 115.162, and 115.425, to read as follows:
115.135. 1. Any person who is qualified to vote, or who shall become qualified to vote on or before the day of election, shall be entitled to register in the jurisdiction within which he or she resides. In order to vote in any election for which registration is required, a person must be registered to vote in the jurisdiction of his or her residence no later than 5:00 p.m., or the normal closing time of any public building where the registration is being held if such time is later than 5:00 p.m., on the fourth Wednesday prior to the election, unless the voter is an interstate former resident, an intrastate new resident or a new resident, as defined in section 115.275, or unless the voter has registered at a one-stop voting site under this section. In no case shall registration for an election extend beyond 10:00 p.m. on the fourth Wednesday prior to the election, unless the voter has registered at a one-stop voting site under this section. Any person registering after such date shall be eligible to vote in subsequent elections.
2. A person applying to register with an election authority or a deputy registration official shall identify himself or herself by presenting a copy of a birth certificate, a Native American tribal document, other proof of United States citizenship, a valid Missouri drivers license or other form of personal identification at the time of registration.
3. Except as provided in federal law or federal elections and in section 115.277, no person shall be entitled to vote if the person has not registered to vote in the jurisdiction of his or her residence prior to the deadline to register to vote, unless the voter has registered at a one-stop voting site under this section.
4. (1) As used in this chapter, "one-stop voting site" means any location designated by an election authority that allows a person to register and vote at the same time under this section.
(2) Any person who is qualified to register to vote may register in person and then vote at a one-stop voting site in the person's county of residence during the period for applying for an absentee ballot provided under this chapter.
(3) To register and vote under this subsection, the person shall do both of the following:
(a) Complete a voter registration application form as required in this chapter; and
(b) Provide proof of residence by presenting any valid documents required by this section. The secretary of state may designate additional documents or methods that suffice and shall prescribe procedures for establishing proof of residence.
(4) Any person who registers under this subsection shall vote an absentee ballot, or vote the ballot provided at the polling place if the person registers to vote on the day of election, as provided in this chapter immediately after registering. If a person declines to vote immediately, the registration shall be processed, and the person may later vote at a one-stop voting site under this section or at the person's correct polling place in the same election.
(5) Within two business days of the person's registration under this section, the election authority in conjunction with the secretary of state shall verify the person's drivers license number or Social Security number, update the Missouri voter registration system and search for possible duplicate registrations, and proceed under this chapter to verify the person's address. The person's vote shall be counted unless the election authority determines that the applicant is not qualified to vote in accordance with the provisions of this chapter.
(6) Any person who is already registered to vote in the person's county of residence may update the information in the registration record in accordance with procedures prescribed by the secretary of state.
115.145. Each election authority shall have the following duties with respect to registration:
(1) To conduct registration at its office or offices throughout the entire year, including any four-week period prior to an election for the purpose of registration of persons for subsequent elections, on all usual business days and during its regular office hours in the manner required by this chapter, and to conduct one-stop voting site registration under this chapter;
(2) To instruct and direct each deputy registration official in the performance of his or her duties including those agencies mandated and optional, including as optional any institution of higher education located in the state, under the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 and to supply each deputy with the proper registration forms and other necessary supplies;
(3) To designate the times, dates and places or areas for additional voter registration by any deputy appointed pursuant to subsection 2 of section 115.143, and to publicize the times, dates and places or areas of such registration in any manner reasonably calculated to inform the public; provided, that the place or area for voter registration by deputies appointed under subsection 3 of section 115.143 shall be located in the school for which the deputy has been appointed;
(4) Retain all voter registration records and registration list maintenance records for a minimum of two years. The election authority shall compile data from the records as may be necessary for compliance with the National Voter Registration Act of 1993;
(5) Number or use another system of identifying the original agency of the voter registration application.
115.162. 1. A voter registration application shall be provided by the secretary of state in all one-stop voting sites, all offices of the state that provide public assistance, all offices that provide state-funded programs primarily engaged in providing services to persons with disabilities, and other offices as directed by the governor. In addition all armed forces recruitment offices shall be considered a voter registration agency.
2. At each voter registration agency, the following services shall be made available:
(1) Assistance to applicants in completing voter registration application forms, unless the applicant refuses such assistance;
(2) Acceptance of completed voter registration application forms for transmittal to the election authority located in the same county or any city not within a county, or if there is more than one election authority within the county, to the election authority nearest to the office of the agency. The election authority receiving the application forms shall review the applications and forward any applications pertaining to a different election authority to that election authority;
(3) Voter registration sites shall transmit voter registration application forms to the appropriate election authority not later than five business days after the form is completed by the applicant;
(4) If a voter registration agency provides services to a person with a disability at the person's home, the agency shall provide the services provided in this section at the person's home.
3. An applicant declining to register in any agency shall be noted in a declination section incorporated into the voter registration form used by the agency. No information relating to a declination to register to vote in connection with an application made at a voter registration agency may be used for any purpose other than voter registration.
115.425. Except as provided in subsection 2 of section 115.277, or unless the person has registered at a one-stop voting site under this chapter, the election judges shall allow no person to vote whose name does not appear in the precinct register without the express sanction of the election authority.
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