AB 997

Under current law, the Elections Commission must maintain the state's official

voter registration list, and both the commission and the municipal clerk or board of

election commissioners are tasked with updating voters' information on the list in

various circumstances.

Current law also requires the Elections Commission and the Department of

Transportation to enter into an agreement to match personally identifiable

information on the official voter registration list with personally identifiable

information maintained by DOT. If an individual attempts to register to vote

electronically, the personally identifiable information the individual provides is

instantly checked against the DOT database.

Under this bill, no later than 10 days after the date of each original voter

registration or the date a registered voter makes changes to his or her registration,

the Elections Commission must compare the voter's personally identifiable

information on the official registration list with the personally identifiable

information maintained by DOT. Further, DOT's agreement with the commission

must require DOT to provide the commission access to the personally identifiable

information DOT maintains, as necessary for purposes of the bill.

If the Elections Commission determines that there is a discrepancy between the

voter's personally identifiable information on the registration list and the voter's

personally identifiable information maintained by DOT, the commission must do all

of the following:

1. Correct the discrepancy on the registration list if the discrepancy concerns

a single item of information, such as the voter's name, date of birth, driver's license

number, or state identification card number; the discrepancy is minor, such as

common variation in the voter's name, such as a nickname or missing a suffix; and

the commission can correct the discrepancy on the basis of reliable information.

2. Mail a notice to the voter that informs the voter of each discrepancy identified

in item 1, if there are discrepancies with respect to two or more items of information

or the discrepancy cannot be corrected as described in item 1, and that the voter's

registration will be suspended unless the voter corrects each discrepancy within 30

days after the date the notice is mailed.

3. Change a voter's registration from eligible to ineligible if the voter was

mailed a notice of suspension under item 2 and the voter has not, within 30 days after

the date the notice was mailed, corrected each discrepancy as identified in the notice.

The bill authorizes the Elections Commission to delegate the tasks specified in

items 1 to 3, above, to the municipal clerk or board of election commissioners. The

bill also requires the commission to keep a permanent record of each discrepancy

identified by the commission as provided in the bill.