SB 548

Current law requires the municipal clerk or the board of election commissioners

of each municipality (municipal clerk) to examine the voter registration records for

that municipality within 90 days of each general election to identify any elector who

was qualified to vote over the preceding four years but who has not voted within that

four-year period (nonvoting elector). The municipal clerk must mail a "Notice of

Suspension of Registration" to each nonvoting elector informing the elector that the

elector's registration will be suspended if the elector does not apply for continuation

of registration within 30 days. If the nonvoting elector fails to apply for continuation

of registration as directed, the municipal clerk must change the elector's registration

status from eligible to ineligible.

This bill transfers responsibility for reviewing each municipality's voter

registration records and mailing the Notice of Suspension of Registration forms from

the municipal clerk to the Government Accountability Board (GAB). The bill

authorizes GAB to delegate back to the municipal clerk the responsibility to change

the registration status of electors who have not timely applied for continuation of

registration. The bill also changes the date by which this notification must occur

from within 90 days following each general election to no later than June 15 following

each general election. Under the bill, the nonvoting elector must return the

application for continuation of registration to the elector's municipal clerk.

The bill also requires GAB to compile and post on its Internet site certain

information about the notices of suspension of registration sent by and returned to

GAB, including the total number of notices mailed, the number of notices returned

as undeliverable, and the number of electors whose status changed from eligible to

ineligible.