SENATE DOCKET, NO. 2061        FILED ON: 1/18/2019

SENATE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 421

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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PRESENTED BY:

Rebecca L. Rausch

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To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
Court assembled:

The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:

An Act to modernize the central registry of voters.

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PETITION OF:

SENATE DOCKET, NO. 2061        FILED ON: 1/18/2019

SENATE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 421

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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In the One Hundred and Ninety-First General Court
(2019-2020)

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An Act to modernize the central registry of voters.

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 section 47C in its entirety and inserting in place thereof the following section:-

Section 47C.

(a) Subject to appropriation, the secretary of state shall maintain a central registry of voters in accordance with this section.

(b) Information contained in the central registry shall be provided by the registrars or equivalent in the commonwealth’s cities and towns.

(c) The central registry shall contain the following information about each registered voter in the commonwealth:

(1) Full name;

(2) Former name, if any;

(3) Residential address;

(4) Date of birth;

(5) Political party enrollment or designation; and

(6) Effective date of registration.

(d) The central registry may contain the following information about residents of the Commonwealth age 16 and over:

(1) Full name;

(2) Former name, if any;

(3) Residential address on January first in the current year;

(4) Residential address on January first in the preceding year;

(5) Date of birth;

(6) Occupation;

(7) Veteran status; and

(8) Nationality, if not a citizen of the United States.

(e) The central registry shall be digitally maintained using the most advanced applicable technology reasonably available to the secretary.

(f) The information contained in the central registry shall not be a matter of public record.

(g) The provisions of subparagraph (f) notwithstanding, the information contained in the central registry pursuant to subparagraph (c) shall be:

(1) available to state party committees, statewide candidate committees, state ballot question committees, the jury commissioner, adjutant general 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 in hard copy, if requested, or issuing computer-readable data files; and

(2) provided by the secretary to the election officials at each polling place in the commonwealth, in digital format sufficient to allow for designated election officials to conduct real-time searches of the registry and to modify a voter’s registration information upon presentation by the voter of appropriate documentation to justify the modification.

(h) The secretary shall use all reasonable efforts to secure federal funding to maintain the central registry consistent with the provisions of this section and provide its information as required in subsection (g)(2).

(i) The secretary of state shall adopt regulations governing the operation of the central registry consistent with the provisions of this section.