HB1529 (2016) Detail

Relative to reporting of felony convictions for voter checklist updates.


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HB 1529-FN - AS AMENDED BY THE HOUSE

9Mar2016... 0031h

2016 SESSION

\t16-2510

\t03/09

 

HOUSE BILL\t1529-FN

 

AN ACT\trelative to reporting of felony convictions for voter checklist updates.

 

SPONSORS:\tRep. Bates, Rock. 7

 

COMMITTEE:\tElection Law

 

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ANALYSIS

 

\tThis bill requires the secretary of state to cause the voter database to indicate whether a person is a felon disqualified to vote, in accordance with information provided by the commissioner of safety.

 

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Explanation:\tMatter added to current law appears in bold italics.

\t\tMatter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]

\t\tMatter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.

9Mar2016... 0031h\t16-2510

\t03/09

 

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

 

In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Sixteen

 

AN ACT\trelative to reporting of felony convictions for voter checklist updates.

 

Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:

 

\t1  New Paragraph; Duties of Commissioner of Safety.  Amend RSA 21-P:4 by inserting after paragraph XVI the following new paragraph:

\t\tXVII.  Provide monthly reports to the secretary of state of all persons who have lost their right to vote pursuant to RSA 607-A:2 during the prior month.

\t2  New Subparagraph; Centralized Voter Registration Database; Disqualification.  Amend RSA 654:45, IV by inserting after subparagraph (c) the following new subparagraph:

\t\t\t(d)  The secretary of state shall cause the voter database to indicate which voters are disqualified to vote pursuant to RSA 607-A:2, in accordance with information provided by the commissioner of safety under RSA 21-P:4, XVII.

\t3  New Subparagraph; Criminal Records; Disclosure.  Amend RSA 106-B:14, I by inserting after subparagraph (e) the following new subparagraph:

\t\t\t(f)  The commissioner of the department of safety may provide monthly reports to the secretary of state pursuant to RSA 21-P:4, XVII.

\t4  Effective Date.  This act shall take effect 60 days after its passage.

 

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\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t16-2510

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t11/20/15

 

HB 1529-FN- FISCAL NOTE

 

AN ACT\trelative to reporting of felony convictions for voter checklist updates.

 

 

FISCAL IMPACT:

The Department of State and Department of Safety state this bill, as introduced, will increase state expenditures by an indeterminable amount in FY 2016 and each year thereafter.  There will be no fiscal impact to state, county, and local revenue or county and local expenditures.

 

METHODOLOGY:

The Department of State states this bill requires the Department of Safety to provide monthly reports detailing all persons who have lost or regained their right to vote.  The Department of State must update the voter database to indicate which voters are disqualified to vote pursuant to RSA 607-A:2.  The Department of State estimates this bill will result in the following costs:

 

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2016

2017

2018

2019

2020

Modifications to ElectioNet software

Hours

$50

$250

$0

$0

$0

Hourly Rate

$80

$80

$0

$0

$0

Total

$4,000

$20,000

$0

$0

$0

 

HAVA Staff Time for Testing & Analysis

Hours

200

1,100

700

600

400

Hourly Rate

$30

$30

$30

$30

$30

Total

$6,000

$33,000

$21,000

$18,000

$12,000

 

TOTAL

$10,000

$53,000

$21,000

$18,000

$12,000

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The Department of State estimates that 10 percent of convicted felons under federal law can be found on New Hampshire voter registration checklists, based on federal felony reports and work completed by the HAVA Elections Office.  The Department assumes the inmate population in state prison is 2,859 and they are all serving time for felony convictions.  The Department assumes its current practices remove approximately 20 percent of incarcerated felons who are registered to vote.  The Department estimates the annual new state prison inmates after the first year implementation would be 757 per annum.  Based on the figures above, the Department assumes this bill will result in identifying and removing 411 incarcerated felons over four years; 229 felons in FY 2017 ((2,859 inmates * 10%)*80%) and 61 felons in FY 2018, 2019, and 2020 ((757 inmates * 10%)*80%).

 

The Department of Safety states that while this bill requires it to provide monthly reports of felony convictions from the prior month to the Department of State, RSA 106-B:14, prohibits the Department from releasing a list containing criminal records.  Instead, the Department states it would need to review all felony level convictions and annulments in its criminal records repository and cross-check them against a current voter registration list on a monthly basis.  This procedure would allow the Department of Safety to only provide the Department of State with a list of individuals with new felony convictions that are included on registered voter lists.  To achieve this aim, a current voter registration list would have to be maintained at the Department of Safety and linked by the Department of Information Technology for additional cross-check.  The Department of State would then be notified of status changes.  The Department of Safety states the additional workload would be minimized by automating the process, however the cost to develop the automation would result in an indeterminable cost.