Senate Bill No. 344

Introduced By harp, cocchiarella, halligan, grinde, beck, foster, ohs, j. johnson, franklin



A Bill for an Act entitled: An Act requiring the secretary of state to compile and maintain a list of all registered electors in the state; requiring county officials to forward voter registration lists to the secretary of state; requiring the secretary of state to furnish upon request a current list of registered electors to any elector for noncommercial use and requiring the secretary of state to charge fees commensurate with the cost of compiling, maintaining, and providing the list; providing that the secretary of state may not be provided with the social security numbers of registered electors; amending sections 13-2-114 and 13-2-115, MCA; and providing an effective date.



Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Montana:



Section 1. Election administrator to provide list of electors to secretary of state. (1) The election administrator in each county shall provide to the secretary of state a list by precinct of all registered electors in the county. The list must include the following information, when possible, for each elector:

(a) name;

(b) mailing address;

(c) precinct number;

(d) registration number assigned by the county election administrator pursuant to 13-2-114;

(e) residence address;

(f) telephone number;

(g) date of birth;

(h) gender;

(i) legislative house district; and

(j) date of registration.

(2) (a) Except as provided in subsection (2)(b), the list provided pursuant to subsection (1) must be a paper copy.

(b) If the county election administrator also maintains the information in other media, such as on a computer disk or tape, and the secretary of state requests the information in that media, the county election administrator shall also provide the list in that media.

(3) In odd-numbered years, the list of electors required by subsection (1) must be delivered to the secretary of state by December 15.

(4) In even-numbered years, the list of electors required by subsection (1) must be delivered to the secretary of state:

(a) for a primary election, no later than July 1, and the list must indicate any changes made up to and including the date of the June primary; and

(b) for a general or special election, 30 days prior to the close of registration before the election.

(5) Each election administrator may provide the secretary of state with a supplemental list of electors in even-numbered years, giving the additions, deletions, and changes made between the time that the previous list was compiled and the close of registration.



Section 2.  Section 13-2-114, MCA, is amended to read:

"13-2-114.   Registration numbers to be assigned. (1) The registration form for each elector shall must be assigned a number by the election administrator, using a system of numbering that best accommodates the filing system and list preparation method used. The election administrator may adopt the use of the elector's social security number as the registration number. If social security numbers are used, they may not be:

(a) provided to the secretary of state to be included on the list of electors required by [section 1];

(b) printed on lists of registered voters prepared by the election administrator or by the secretary of state; or

(c) released as public information.

(2)  If social security numbers are used as the registration number, the election administrator may assign an alternative number for any elector who does not have a social security number or who declines to provide the number. A system of assigning alternative numbers shall must be developed in consultation with the secretary of state.

(3)  Upon receipt by the election administrator of a properly completed registration card, the registration of the elector is complete and the election administrator shall assign a registration number."



Section 3.  Section 13-2-115, MCA, is amended to read:

"13-2-115.   Registration lists to be prepared. (1) Except as provided in subsection (5), immediately after registration is closed, the election administrator shall prepare and must have printed lists of all registered electors in each precinct. Names of electors must be listed alphabetically, with their residence address or with a mailing address if located where street numbers are not used. A preliminary list of registered electors may be printed before the close of registration for an election. If a preliminary list is printed, a supplementary list must be printed after the close of registration.

(2)  A copy of the list of registered voters must be displayed at the polling place. Extra copies of the lists must be retained by the election administrator and furnished to an elector upon request.

(3)  The list of registered electors prepared for a primary election may be used for the general election if a supplemental list giving the additions and deletions since the primary list was prepared is printed. The election administrator may prepare lists for a special election, but lists are not required to be printed for special elections.

(4)  Lists of registered voters need not be printed if the election will not be held.

(5) The election administrator shall forward a list of all registered electors in the county to the secretary of state, as provided in [section 1]. The secretary of state shall use the lists submitted by election administrators to compile and maintain a list of all registered electors in the state. Upon written request, the secretary of state shall furnish to any elector, for noncommercial use, a current list of registered electors. Upon delivery of the list to the elector, the secretary of state shall charge and collect a fee commensurate with the cost of compiling and maintaining the list and of reproducing the list in the format requested by the elector.

(5)(6)  If a law enforcement officer or reserve officer, as defined in 7-32-201, requests in writing that, for security reasons, the officer's and the officer's spouse's residential address, if the same as the officer's, not be disclosed, the registrar may not include the address on any list of registered voters but shall list only the name or names."



Section 4.  Codification instruction. [Section 1] is intended to be codified as an integral part of Title 13, chapter 2, part 1, and the provisions of Title 13, chapter 2, part 1, apply to [section 1].



Section 5. Coordination instruction. If Senate Bill No. 361 is passed and approved, the following subsection must be added to [section 1(1) of this act]:

"(k) whether the elector's name is on the active or inactive list of electors."



Section 6.  Effective date. [This act] is effective July 1, 1997.

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