Bill S.294

SENATE DOCKET, NO. 265 FILED ON: 1/19/2011

SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 294

By Mr. Brewer, a petition (accompanied by bill, Senate, No. 294) of Stephen M. Brewer for legislation relative to the street list. Election Laws.

[SIMILAR MATTER FILED IN PREVIOUS SESSION
SEE SENATE, NO. 2574 OF 2009-2010.]

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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In the Year Two Thousand Eleven

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An Act relative to the street list.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:

SECTION 1. Chapter 51 of the General Laws is hereby amended by striking out section 4, as amended by section 2 of chapter 132 of the acts of 2009, and inserting in place thereof the following section:-

Section 4. (a) Registrars, assistant registrars or boards having similar duties under any general or special law, except in the city of Boston, shall annually in January or February visit or communicate with the residents of each building in their respective cities and towns and, after diligent inquiry, shall make true lists containing, as nearly as they can ascertain, the name, date of birth, occupation, veteran status, nationality, if not a citizen of the United States, and residence on January 1 of the preceding year and the current year, of each person residing in their respective cities and towns. The lists and the information contained therein shall not be a matter of public record; provided, however, that the lists shall, upon written request, be available to any federal agency, or to any department, agency, or institution of the commonwealth or any political subdivision thereof. A list of all persons under 21 years of age shall be transmitted by the board of registrars to the respective school committee not later than April 1 of each year. The list shall contain the name, residence and age or date of birth of each such person, but the names shall not be disclosed to any person other than the respective school committee or board of trustees of a county agricultural school or their designated representatives. That proportion of any expenses incurred by the registrars under this section, equal to the proportion that the number of persons under 17 years of age bears to the total number of persons listed thereunder, shall be carried as an item in the school committee budget.

(b) In the city of Boston, the registrars, assistant registrars or boards having similar duties under any general or special law, shall annually in January or February visit or communicate with the residents of each building in the city and, after diligent inquiry, shall make true lists containing, as nearly as they can ascertain, the name, date of birth, occupation, veterans status, nationality if not a citizen of the United States and residence on January 1 of the preceding year and the current year, of each person 17 years of age or older residing in the city. The lists and the information contained therein shall not be a matter of public record; provided, however, that the lists shall, upon written request, be available to any federal agency, agency, or to any department, agency, or institution of the commonwealth or any political subdivision thereof.

(c) In any city or town which communicates with residents by mail for the purpose of obtaining the information, the communication shall state in boldface type on the postcard, envelope and printed material contained in such communication the following statement: "Warning: Failure to respond to this mailing shall result in removal from the active voting list and may result in removal from the voter registrations rolls." Registrars, assistant registrars or boards in cities or towns communicating with residents by mail for the purposes of obtaining the information may require a response under the penalties of perjury.

(d) The name and address of a person who provides the registrars with a copy of a court order granting protection or evidence of residence in a protective shelter or an affidavit signed by a chief of police or the chief?s designee that the person is entitled to have certain information withheld from the public under section 24C of chapter 265, shall not appear on the street list and the names shall not be disclosed to any person. The information collected under this section regarding a person's status as a veteran shall not be a public record and shall only be disclosed to the adjutant general, the secretary of veterans' services and local veterans' service officers.

SECTION 2. Said chapter 51 of the General Laws is hereby further amended by striking out sections 6 and 7.

SECTION 3. Section 11 of said chapter 51, as appearing in the 2008 Official Edition, is hereby amended by adding the following sentence:- The book and the information contained therein shall not be a matter of public record; provided, however, that the book shall, upon written request, be available to any federal agency, or to any department, agency, or institution of the commonwealth or any political subdivision thereof.

SECTION 4. Said chapter 51 is hereby amended by striking out section 47C, as so appearing, and inserting in place thereof the following section:-

Section 47C. Subject to appropriation, the state secretary shall maintain a central registry of voters which shall contain, if provided by the registrars, the names, addresses and effective dates of registration of all registered voters in the commonwealth and which shall contain the name, date of birth, occupation, veteran status, nationality, if not a citizen of the United States, for street list purposes only and residence on January 1 in the preceding year and the current year, of every person in the commonwealth and shall adopt regulations governing the operation of the central registry. The information contained in the central registry shall not be a matter of public record. All information in the central registry shall be available to the jury commissioner, veteran status information shall be available to the adjutant general and the secretary of veterans' services and information regarding the names, addresses, political designations and effective dates of registration of registered voters shall be available to state party committees, statewide candidate committees, state ballot question committees and any other individual, agency or entity that the state secretary shall designate by regulation, consistent with the purposes of this section, at a fair and reasonable cost not to exceed the cost of printing or preparing computer readable documents.

SECTION 5. This act shall take effect January 1, 2011.

Name:	District/Address:
Stephen M. Brewer	Worcester, Hampden, Hampshire and Middlesex