GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

SESSION 1989

H	2 

HOUSE BILL 547
Committee Substitute Favorable 5/10/89

Short Title:  Voter Registration.	(Public)
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Sponsors:
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Referred to:
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March 13, 1989

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT TO PROVIDE A COMPREHENSIVE SYSTEM OF INCREASING VOTER REGISTRATION, BY ALLOWING USE OF DRIVER'S LICENSE APPLICATIONS AND APPLICATIONS FOR SPECIAL IDENTIFICATION CARDS TO ALSO BE APPLICATIONS FOR VOTER REGISTRATION, AND ALLOWING VOTER REGISTRATION BY MAIL.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
Section 1.  G.S. 163-81 reads as rewritten:
"§ 163-81. Driver license examiners to accept applications to register voters.
(a)	Notwithstanding any other provision of law, 
driver license examiners are ex officio special registration commissioners for the purpose of this section. No additional oath is required.
(b)	Special registration commissioners appointed under this section are authorized to accept applications to register persons who are qualified for registration regardless of that person's voting precinct or county of residence in the State. The special registration commissioners appointed pursuant to this section shall have the same authority to accept applications to register voters as is conferred upon registration officials in this Chapter.
(c)	The Division of Motor Vehicles shall, pursuant to the rules adopted by the State Board of Elections, modify its forms so that any eligible person who applies for original issuance, renewal or correction of a driver's license or special identification card issued under G.S. 20-37.7 may, on a detachable part of the form complete an application to register to vote or to update his registration if the voter has changed his address or moved from one precinct to another or from one county to another.  Such application shall be under oath. The necessary forms shall be prescribed by the State Board of Elections. All applications shall be forwarded by the Department of Transportation to the appropriate county board of elections.  The form must ask for the previous voter registration address of the voter, if any.  If a previous address is listed, and it is not in the county of residence of the applicant, the appropriate county board of elections shall treat it as an authorization to cancel the previous registration and also process it as such under the procedures of G.S. 163-72.1(c) through (e).
Registration shall become effective as provided in G.S. 163-67(a).
(d)	The State Board of Elections is authorized to promulgate rules necessary to implement the provisions of this section."
Sec. 2.  Chapter 163 of the General Statutes is amended by adding a new section to read:
"§ 163-72.4. Registration by mail.
(a)	In addition to any other procedure provided by this Article, a person may apply by mail to register to vote as provided by this section.
(b)	The State Board of Elections shall develop a registration by mail form, which shall request sufficient information to enable officials of the county where registration is desired to satisfactorily process the application.  The State Board of Elections shall print sufficient copies of the form so that they may be publicly distributed.  Registration forms shall be available from the State Board of Elections and county boards of elections, and may be distributed by any person.
(c)	In order to be valid, the registration form shall be signed by the applicant and by two persons who witnessed the signing of the application form by the applicant.  To be valid for an election, the form must be postmarked at least 30 days before the election.  The application form shall request the applicant's telephone number, to assist the appropriate board of elections in contacting the voter if needed in processing the application.  The application shall require the voter to state if the voter is currently registered to vote anywhere, and at what address, so that any prior registration can be cancelled.  If that address is in the county where the voter applies to register, the application shall be processed as if it had been submitted under G.S. 163-72.2.
(d)	The application shall ask for political party affiliation, and briefly explain the law relating to party affiliation with respect to voting in primary elections.
(e)	The application made under this section shall be under oath, and any person who makes a fraudulent application under this section shall be guilty of a Class I felony.
(f)	Upon receipt of an application under this section, the county board of elections shall send, by nonforwardable first-class mail, a notice of registration at the postal address on the registration form, including an assignment of precinct and polling place.  If the notice is returned as undeliverable, a second nonforwardable first-class mailing shall be sent.  If that notice is returned as undeliverable, the registration shall be cancelled if it has been approved, and shall be rejected if it has not yet been approved.
(g)	If a registration form is a duplicate of one already made, the applicant shall be so notified.  The reminder shall include the voter's precinct and polling place.
(h)	If the voter has listed a previous registration not in that county, the county board of elections shall treat it as an authorization to cancel the previous registration and also process it as such under the procedures of G.S. 163-72.1(c) through (e).
(i)	The application shall require that the applicant pay the full postage, except that if federal law provides that it may be carried without postage, the application shall contain the appropriate franking language to allow it to be carried without postage."
Sec. 3.  G.S. 163-80 reads as rewritten:
"§ 163-80. Officers authorized to register voters.
(a)	Only the following election officials shall be authorized to register voters:
(1)	Any member of a county board of elections who has been duly appointed pursuant to G.S. 163-22(c) and properly installed as required by G.S. 163-30 and 163-31.
(2)	The supervisor of elections of a county board of elections appointed pursuant to the provisions of G.S. 163-35.
(3)	Precinct registrars and judges of election appointed pursuant to the provisions of G.S. 163-41.
(4)	Special registration commissioners appointed pursuant to the authority and limitation contained in G.S. 163-41(b) , or serving ex officio pursuant to G.S. 163-81.
(5)	Full-time and salaried deputy supervisors of elections employed by the county board of elections and who work under the direct supervision of the board's supervisor of elections appointed pursuant to the provisions contained in G.S. 163-35.
(6)	Local public library employees designated by the governing board of such public library to be appointed by the county board of elections as special library registration deputies. Appointment of such deputies is mandatory for libraries covered by G.S. 153A-272; appointment is optional for other libraries. Persons appointed under this subsection shall be given the oath contained in G.S. 163-41(b), and shall be authorized to accept applications to register on those days and during those hours said special deputies are on duty with their respective libraries. If, for good and valid reasons, the local public library director shall request that the county board of elections appoint ‘replacement' special library registration deputies before the two-year term ends, the county board of elections shall do so.
(7)	Public high school employees appointed under this subdivision. A local board of education may, but is not required to, designate high school employees to be appointed by the county board of elections as special high school registration commissioners. Only employees who volunteer for this duty, and who are acceptable to the county board of elections, may be designated by boards of education. A special high school registration commissioner may register voters only while on duty as a high school employee and only at times and under arrangements approved by the local school board of education. A person appointed under this subdivision shall take the oath prescribed in G.S. 163-41(b).
(b)	All election officials authorized to register voters under authority of this section shall not be authorized to register voters who reside outside the boundaries of their respective counties except in those specific instances involving municipalities which lie within the boundaries of two or more counties and except as provided by G.S. 163-81. The State Board of Elections shall have authority to promulgate rules for the processing of voters in such instances.
(c)	All election officials authorized by this section to register voters shall register any qualified voter without regard to political party affiliation and without discrimination in any manner whatsoever.
(d)	The State Board of Elections shall promulgate rules for the proper training of those persons qualifying under this section as registrars."
Sec. 4. There is appropriated from the General Fund for the 1989-90 fiscal year the sum of $15,000 to the Division of Motor Vehicles and the sum of $35,000 to the State Board of Elections for the implementation of this act.
Sec. 5. Section 1 of this act shall become effective with respect to all applications for issuance, renewal, or correction of driver's licenses or special identification cards issued by the Department of Transportation on or after January 1, 1990.  Sections 2 and 3 of this act shall become effective January 1, 1990. Section 4 of this act shall become effective July 1, 1989.