FILED ON: 12/5/2013

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 3788

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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In the Year Two Thousand Thirteen

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An Act relative to election laws.

Whereas, The deferred operation of this act would tend to defeat its purpose, which is to expand and improve forthwith access to voting, therefore it is hereby declared to be an emergency law, necessary for the immediate preservation of the public convenience.
 

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 inserting after section 17 the following section:-               Section 17A. In each municipality, the city or town clerk and a registrar or election commissioner, as designated by the board of registrars or the board of election commissioners,  shall attend annual training conducted by the office of the state secretary on the applicable state and federal election laws and regulations. Upon completion of the training, they shall inform the board of registrars and election commissioners.

SECTION 2. Said chapter 51 is hereby further amended by inserting after section 33 the following section:-

Section 33A. The state secretary shall create and maintain an online portal allowing citizens to complete an affidavit of registration online. The registration shall be transmitted by the state secretary to the appropriate local registrar. The online affidavit shall use the registrants’ signature from the registry of motor vehicles records and the registrar of motor vehicles shall make appropriate provisions to facilitate the electronic transfer of the image of the signature to the central voter registry. If an applicant’s signature cannot be found using the online affidavit of registration form, the applicant shall be so informed and given the option to print the affidavit of registration, append their signature, and mail it directly to the appropriate registrar of voters. Nothing in this section shall be construed to change any registration deadline or qualification of voting.

SECTION 3. Section 42H of said chapter 51, as appearing in the 2012 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after the word “mail”, in line 4, the following words:-  , the online portal.

SECTION 4. Said chapter 51 is hereby further amended by adding the following section:-

Section 64. The state secretary shall create and maintain an online portal through which a member of the public may check to determine whether or not they are registered to vote. The portal shall allow a member of the public to enter his or her name, date of birth and residential zip code. The portal shall subsequently display whether a voter with that name, date of birth and residential zip code is registered to vote, whether the registration of the voter is active or inactive pursuant to section 37A, the polling location for the voter and state and federal elected officials who represent the voter. The portal shall not display any other biographical information about the voter except the information provided by the user of the site. If there is no voter in the central registry of voters matching the information submitted to the portal, or if the voter’s registration is inactive, the website shall inform the user how he or she may obtain a voter registration form or restore his or her registration to active status.

SECTION 5. Chapter 54 of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting after section 25A the following section:-

Section 25B. (a) The local election officers and registrars of every city or town shall provide for a period of early voting for a qualified voter, as defined in section 1 of chapter 51, in order to cast a ballot during any election involving a presidential primary or presidential election.

(b) The voting period for early voting shall begin on the eleventh day before the primary or election and continue through the second day before the primary or election during the regular or normal business hours of the city or town clerk; provided, however, that if the eleventh day before the primary or election falls on a legal holiday the early voting period shall begin on the first weekday prior thereto. A city or town may, in addition to providing for early voting during regular or normal business hours and at the discretion of the registrars for the city or town, provide for additional early voting hours beyond the regular or normal hours, including weekend hours.

(c) For the purposes of early voting, an early voting location shall include a city hall election office and a town hall clerk’s office; provided, however, that if the office is deemed unavailable or unsuitable for the purposes of early voting, the registrars of each city or town may identify and provide for an alternative centrally-located, suitable and convenient early voting location within each city or town for use during the early voting period. A city or town may also provide for additional early voting locations at the discretion of the registrars for that city or town. Each early voting location shall be accessible to persons with disabilities.

(d) The registrars for each city or town shall publish the location of the early voting location as well as the applicable dates and hours. Publication shall occur during the week prior to the commencement of the early voting period and at least once during the period. Notice of the location, dates and hours of early voting shall be sent to every newspaper listed in the New England Newspaper Directory, located in that city or town. Notice of the locations, dates and hours of early voting shall also be conspicuously posted in the office of the city clerk or in the principal official bulletin board of each city or town, on any other public building deemed necessary, and on the city or town’s website, if any.

(e) The state secretary shall provide a sufficient number of early voting ballots to the registrars of each city or town for use during the early voting period. The ballots shall be delivered to the registrars of each city or town 21 days in advance of the primary or election.

(f) Early voting ballots shall be provided to each qualified voter who participates in early voting.

(g) Prior to the commencement of early voting, the registrars for each city or town shall prepare a list for the early voting location, containing the names and residences of all persons qualified to vote therein, as the same appear upon the annual register, and shall reasonably transmit the same to the election officers at every early voting location designated by the registrars.

(h) The presiding election officer at the early voting location shall cause to be placed on the voting lists opposite the name of a qualified voter who participates in early voting the letters ‘EV’ designating an early voter.

(i) At the end of each day during the early voting period, the presiding election officer shall separate, compile, and record early voting ballots cast at each early voting location into the appropriate ward and precinct.

(j) The ballot boxes for early voting shall be sealed and locked and maintained securely by the election officers.

(k) The registrars for each city or town shall designate a location for the counting of early voting ballots. All totals shall be added to the totals at the relevant wards and precincts.

(l) The state secretary shall promulgate rules and regulations to implement the requirements of this section.

(m) The provisions of section 72 of this chapter shall not apply to this section.

(n) Any person who casts a ballot during early voting shall be required to present a valid photo identification.  For the purposes of this section, ‘valid photo identification’ shall mean a document that:

(1) shows the name of the individual to whom the document was issued, and the name conforms to the name of the individual’s voter registration record;

(2) shows a photograph of the individual to whom the document was issued;

(3) includes an expiration date, and the document is not expired or expired after the date of the most recent general election; and

(4) was issued by the commonwealth of Massachusetts or the government of the United States.

A person seeking to vote that does not provide sufficient valid photo identification as defined in this section may be challenged under section 85 of this chapter.

Notwithstanding any special or general law to the contrary, the provisions of this subsection shall not take effect until such time as: (i) the executive office of administration and finance and the secretary of the commonwealth have furnished a study of its impact on the state’s economy and the revenue cost to the commonwealth, including, but not limited to, a distributional analysis showing the impacts, if any, on the commonwealth’s anticipated revenues for the current fiscal year, the balance of the commonwealth’s stabilization fund, and any anticipated change in employment and ancillary economic activity; and (ii) legislation necessary to carry out any recommendations in the study has been filed and enacted pursuant to Part 2, Chap. 1, Sec. 1, Art. II of the Constitution.

SECTION 6.  Section 33 of said chapter 54, as appearing in the 2012 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out, in line 10, the words “,registering and cancelling” and inserting in place thereof the following words:- and registering.

SECTION 6A. Section 72 of chapter 54 of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting, in line 6, after the word “elections” the following:- ; provided that, this section shall not apply to section 25b of this chapter.

SECTION 7. (a) There shall be established an elections task force. The task force shall undertake a study of the effectiveness of the first election involving early voting pursuant to section 25B of chapter 54 of the General Laws. Said study shall include an analysis of: (1) the state and local costs of providing early voting; (2) the administrative requirements of implementing and providing early voting, including their impact on municipal clerks offices during the early voting period; (3) any instance of fraudulent voting or voter impersonation; (4) success in reducing the length of lines, waiting therein, and congestion at polling places on election day; (5) success in increasing voter turnout; (6) the efficacy of checking names in early voting locations pursuant to section 67 of chapter 54 of General Laws, notwithstanding use of voting machines in that city or town; and (7) more accessible voter registration, including, but not limited to, pre-registration for seventeen year olds, and same-day registration.

(b) The task force shall consist of the house and senate chairs of the joint committee on election laws; the speaker of the house of representatives or a designee; the president of the senate or a designee; the house minority leader or a designee; the senate minority leader or a designee; the state secretary or a designee; 1 representatives of the Massachusetts Town Clerks Association;1 representative of the Massachusetts City Clerks’ Association; and 1 representative of the election laws advocacy community designated by the chairmen of the joint committee on election laws.

(c) The task force shall submit its report and recommendations, together with drafts of legislation to carry its recommendations into effect, to the joint committee on election laws and the state secretary no later than April 1, 2017.

SECTION 8. (a) There is hereby established an election laws implementation task force. The task force shall undertake a study to implement a process for auditing election results.  The study shall include, but not be limited to, an analysis of: (1) the state and local costs of implementing the process, and the availability of federal funding through the Help America Vote Act; (2) the administrative requirements for adopting a process for auditing election results, including the impact upon poll operations and upon the operation of municipal clerks’ offices on election day; (3) the possibility of fraud; and (4) the effects upon finalizing a vote and possible recounts.  

(b) The task force shall consist of the house and senate chairs of the joint committee on election laws; the speaker of the house of representatives or a designee; the president of the senate or a designee; the house minority leader or a designee; the senate minority leader or a designee; the state secretary or a designee; the chairs of the house and the senate committees on ways and means or their designees; the state auditor or a designee; the director of the office on disability or a designee; 1 representative of the election laws advocacy community designated by the chairmen of the joint committee on election laws; 1 representative of the Massachusetts City Clerks Association, Inc.; and 1 representatives of the Massachusetts Town Clerks Association, Inc.

(c) The task force shall submit its final report and recommendations, together with drafts of legislation to carry its recommendations into effect,  to the joint committee on election laws and the state secretary on or before July 31, 2014.

SECTION 9.  Sections 5 and 7 shall take effect January 1, 2015 and shall be implemented for the 2016 biennial state election and the 2016 presidential primary.

SECTION 10.  Section 8E of Chapter 90 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2012 Official Edition, is hereby amended at the end of the first paragraph thereof by adding the following language:—  The Registry shall establish a waiver for indigent persons to obtain an identification card at no cost.

Notwithstanding any special or general law to the contrary, the provisions of this section shall not take effect until such time as: (i) the executive office of administration and finance and the secretary of the commonwealth have furnished a study of its impact on the state’s economy and the revenue cost to the commonwealth, including, but not limited to, a distributional analysis showing the impacts, if any, on the commonwealth’s anticipated revenues for the current fiscal year, the balance of the commonwealth’s stabilization fund, and any anticipated change in employment and ancillary economic activity; and (ii) legislation necessary to carry out any recommendations in the study has been filed and enacted pursuant to Part 2, Chap. 1, Sec. 1, Art. II of the Constitution.

SECTION 11.  Chapter 90 of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended by inserting after Section 61 the following new sections:—

Section 62.  (a) The Registry of Motor Vehicles shall establish a definition of ‘indigency’ for the purposes of this chapter and uniform standards and procedures for the determination that: (1) a person is indigent and is unable to afford an identification card or (2) a person is indigent, but has the ability to pay a reduced fee for an identification card. The definition and standards, and any amendments thereto, shall be used by the registry in determining eligibility for a free identification card. In the formulation of the definition, standards and procedures, the registry shall utilize: (1) the reporting system operated by the commissioner of transitional assistance for the purpose of verifying financial eligibility of participants in state or federally funded programs; (2) the accessibility of income data available from the department of revenue; and (3) verifying material assets through the registry of motor vehicles.

(b) A person claiming indigency under subsection (a) shall execute a waiver authorizing the registrar, or the registrar’s designee, to obtain the person’s wage, tax and asset information from the department of revenue, department of transitional assistance and within the registry of motor vehicles that the registry may find useful in verifying the person’s claim of indigency. The waiver shall authorize the registrar, or the registrar’s designee, to conduct any further reassessment required by this section.

(c) It shall be the responsibility of the registrar to ensure that a person claiming to be indigent meets the definition of indigency under subsection (a). A person seeking an indigency waiver shall be interviewed by the registrar or the registrar’s designee prior to the granting of a waiver. The person conducting the interview shall explain to the person seeking the waiver: (1) the definition of indigency; (2) the process used to verify the person’s information with other state agencies; and (3) the penalties for misrepresenting financial information in applying for an indigency waiver. The registrar or the registrar’s designee conducting the interview shall prepare a written indigency intake report that shall record the results of the interview and state a recommendation on whether or not the person seeking the waiver is indigent. The person seeking the waiver and the registrar or the registrar’s designee conducting the interview shall sign the indigency intake report. In signing the report, the person seeking the waiver shall certify under the pains and penalties of perjury that the information contained therein is true and that the person has not concealed any information relevant to the person’s financial status. All statements contained in the report shall be deemed material statements. The completed report shall be presented to the registrar who may adopt or reject the recommendations in the report, either in whole or in part.

(d) Notwithstanding any special or general law to the contrary, the provisions of this section shall not take effect until such time as: (i) the executive office of administration and finance and the secretary of the commonwealth have furnished a study of its impact on the state’s economy and the revenue cost to the commonwealth, including, but not limited to, a distributional analysis showing the impacts, if any, on the commonwealth’s anticipated revenues for the current fiscal year, the balance of the commonwealth’s stabilization fund, and any anticipated change in employment and ancillary economic activity; and (ii) legislation necessary to carry out any recommendations in the study has been filed and enacted pursuant to Part 2, Chap. 1, Sec. 1, Art. II of the Constitution.