SENATE DOCKET, NO. 970        FILED ON: 2/9/2021

SENATE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 488

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. 970        FILED ON: 2/9/2021

SENATE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 488

[SIMILAR MATTER FILED IN PREVIOUS SESSION
SEE SENATE, NO. 421 OF 2019-2020.]

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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In the One Hundred and Ninety-Second General Court
(2021-2022)

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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, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking section 47C in its entirety and inserting in place thereof the following section:- 

Section 47C. Central registry of voters; agreement with Electronic Registration Information Center, Inc. 

(a) 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, without limitation, 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, without limitation, 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 state secretary. 

(f) The information contained in the central registry pursuant to paragraph (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 state 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. 

(g) The state 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 paragraph (f)(2). 

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

(i) Not later than April 30, 2021, the state secretary shall enter into an agreement with the Electronic Registration Information Center, Inc. on behalf of the commonwealth that shall specify the terms and conditions of the commonwealth's membership in the Center. The agreement shall include terms providing for the periodic sharing of data between the central registry, the registry of motor vehicles and any other automatic voter registration agency as designated by the secretary, and the Center, including, but not limited to, voter names and addresses. 

(j) The state secretary shall certify compliance with paragraph (i) not later than May 3, 2021, and file such certification with the clerks of the senate and house of representatives and the chairs of the joint committee on election laws. Should the secretary fail to comply with the requirements of paragraph (i), the state secretary shall instead file a report detailing the specific reasons for such noncompliance, as well as all specific efforts undertaken by the state secretary or any of their representatives or designees to achieve compliance with paragraph (i) in each of the calendar years 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021.