SENATE DOCKET, NO. 1158        FILED ON: 1/17/2019

SENATE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 862

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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PRESENTED BY:

Sonia Chang-Diaz

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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 voter registration and jury pool lists.

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PETITION OF:

SENATE DOCKET, NO. 1158        FILED ON: 1/17/2019

SENATE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 862

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 voter registration and jury pool lists.

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. Section 4 of chapter 51 of the General Laws, as so appearing in the 2016 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out, in lines 3, 5, 10, 12 and 14, the word "shall" and inserting in place thereof, in each instance, the following word:- may.

SECTION 2. Section 10 of chapter 234A of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out, in lines 2, and 10, the word "shall" and inserting in place thereof, in each instance, the following word:- may.

SECTION 3. Section 11 of said chapter 234A is hereby amended by striking out, in line 3 the word "shall" and inserting in place thereof the following word:- may.

SECTION 4. (a) Notwithstanding any special or general law to the contrary, after January 1, 2021, the annual listing of residents required by section 4 of chapter 51 of the General Laws, as so appearing, shall no longer be used to maintain the inactive voter list required by section 37A of said chapter 51. The secretary of state shall, on or before January 1, 2021, develop an alternative listing to the information provided by the annual listing of residents. The secretary shall file a report with the joint committee on election laws on the alternative listing and file with it any recommended legislation required to fully implement the alternative listing.

(b) Notwithstanding any special or general law to the contrary, after January 1, 2021, the annual listing of residents required by section 4 of chapter 51 of the General Laws, as so appearing, the numbered resident list required by section 10 of chapter 234A of the General Laws, as so appearing, and the numbered resident file required by section 11 of said chapter 234A shall no longer be used for the selection of jurors required by section 13 of said chapter 234A. The commissioner shall, on or before January 1, 2021, develop an alternative to the information provided by the annual listing of residents, the numbered resident list and the numbered resident file. The commissioner shall file a report with the joint committee on election laws on the alternative listing and file with it any recommended legislation required to fully implement the alternative listing; provided however, that any such legislation shall meet the constitutional and statutory requirements regarding jury selection and guarantee a random selection process under which no person shall be exempted or excluded from serving as a juror because of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, handicap, economic status or occupation.

(c) All state agencies possessing an electronic database which contains information relative to the development of alternative listings by the secretary and the commissioner, including but not limited to the registry of motor vehicles, department of revenue, board of higher education, department of transitional assistance, office of medicaid, department of public health and division of unemployment assistance shall provide in electronic form a copy of the relevant data from said database in a format acceptable to the secretary and commissioner. In addition, any city or town that conducts an annual census shall provide such data to the secretary and commissioner, and all public and private colleges and universities shall provide such data from enrollment records. To the extent possible, the data shall include the name, residential address, mailing address, race, ethnicity, gender, social security number, and date of birth of each person. In those cases where a federal or state waiver or authorization is necessary to provide this information, each agency or entity shall take all necessary steps to obtain such authorization or waiver, which a state agency may not unreasonably withhold. No information shall be provided to the secretary and commissioner beyond that required to create the alternative listing. Nothing shall be included in a printed administrative records list that would indicate from which source list the information on an individual resident was derived. The secretary and commissioner may secure and use additional lists from nongovernmental institutions and sources in order to create the alternative listing. The secretary, the commissioner and all others who have access to data under this section shall treat all such data confidentially, and such data and any record created, received or maintained from such data under this section, shall not be a public record.

SECTION 5: Sections 1, 2, and 3 shall take effect on January 1, 2021. The remainder of this act shall take effect upon its passage.