HB 1534 - AS AMENDED BY THE SENATE
05/12/2016 1849s
2016 SESSION
\t16-2507
\t03/10
HOUSE BILL\t1534
AN ACT\trelative to reports of death of voters and authorizing an electronic poll book trial program.
SPONSORS:\tRep. Bates, Rock. 7
COMMITTEE:\tElection Law
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AMENDED ANALYSIS
\tThis bill requires the state registrar to notify the city or town clerk upon receipt of a death record and requires the supervisors of the checklist to remove the name from the checklist. This bill also authorizes a trial of electronic poll book devices for voter registration and check-in for the 2016 state primary and general elections.
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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\t\tMatter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
05/12/2016 1849s\t16-2507
\t03/10
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Sixteen
AN ACT\trelative to reports of death of voters and authorizing an electronic poll book trial program.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
\t1 New Paragraphs; Registrar of Vital Records; Duties. Amend RSA 5-C:4 by inserting after paragraph III the following new paragraphs:
\t\tIV. The secretary of state shall compare information contained on each death record received by the division of vital records with information contained in the statewide centralized voter registration database and submit to the state registrar a list of every city or town that has a registered voter matching the decedent's information.
\t\tV. Upon receipt of a death record, the state registrar shall transmit notice of the death to the clerk of the city or town of residence of the decedent and to each city or town listed by the secretary of state for the decedent pursuant to paragraph IV.
\t2 Checklists; Reports of Death. Amend RSA 654:37 to read as follows:
\t654:37 Reports of Death. Whenever there is filed in the office of the clerk an official notice of the death of any person or persons of the age of 18 years or over or the clerk receives notice of a death record of such person or persons under RSA 5-C:4, V, the town or city clerk shall notify the supervisors of the checklist of said deaths by submitting a notice of same to the supervisors at their next regular meeting. Upon receipt of such notice, the supervisors shall examine the checklist; and, if the name of said deceased person appears thereon, it shall be removed. The notice shall be retained in accordance with RSA 33-A:3-a. Any supervisor who shall neglect or refuse to erase the name of such deceased voter from the checklist after receiving such notice from the town or city clerk shall be guilty of a violation.
\t3 Electronic Poll Book Trial Program.
\t\tI. The city of Manchester and towns of Hooksett and Durham are hereby authorized to conduct a trial of electronic poll book devices for voter registration and check-in for the 2016 state primary and general elections. The trial shall be compliant with all statutes directly or indirectly related to voter checklists and maintenance of the statewide centralized voter registration database including the processes related to voter registration and check-in, the processing of absentee ballots, the collection of all fields of data required for registration or check-in, and the delivery of that data to the secretary of state in a format compatible with the statewide centralized voter registration database. The secretary of state may waive statutory provisions related to manual entries on a paper checklist to accommodate an electronic poll book provided the same information required of the voter is obtained and recorded by the electronic poll book. In addition, as required in statute, nonpublic data related to individual voters shall remain confidential, and no voter data shall be used by an electronic poll book vendor, its agents, or individuals or entities from which the electronic poll book vendor obtains services for any purpose other than conducting a trial program under this section. Notwithstanding statutes relative to the privacy of voter information in the statewide database, year-of-birth information may be discreetly used by electronic poll books to help identify voters. Adequate back-up systems shall be in place during the trial as determined by the secretary of state. The city and towns shall assume all costs associated with the electronic poll book trial. The secretary of state shall prepare a memorandum of understanding that outlines specific conditions that must be met for compliance with this section. No electronic poll book trial may proceed unless the memorandum of understanding is signed by the secretary of state and the mayor or governing body of the town by June 15, 2016.
\t\tII. Within one month after the 2016 state primary election, and again, within one month after the 2016 general election, the city and towns shall submit a report to the secretary of state, who shall review such reports and forward them to the speaker of the house of representatives, the president of the senate, the chairperson of the house election law committee, and the chairperson of the senate public and municipal affairs committee. Each report shall describe the outcome of the trial program, addressing voter experiences, wait times, voter throughput times, personnel costs, hardware and software costs, and the completeness and accuracy of the data recorded, reported, and submitted for import to the statewide centralized voter registration database.
\t\tI. Sections 1-2 of this act shall take effect July 1, 2017.
\t\tII. The remainder of this act shall take effect upon its passage.