GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

SESSION 1993

H	2 

HOUSE BILL 445
Committee Substitute Favorable 7/22/93

Short Title:  Statewide Voter Regist.	(Public)
─────────────────────────────────────── 
Sponsors:
─────────────────────────────────────── 
Referred to:  
─────────────────────────────────────── 

March 18, 1993

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT TO ESTABLISH STATEWIDE COMPUTERIZED VOTER REGISTRATION.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
Section 1.  Chapter 163 of the General Statutes is amended by adding a new Article to read:
"ARTICLE 7A.
"Statewide Computerized Voter Registration.
"§ 163-83. Establishment.
	The State Board of Elections shall develop and implement a statewide computerized voter registration system to facilitate voter registration and to provide a central database containing voter registration information for each county. The system shall encompass both software development and purchasing of the necessary hardware for the central and distributed-network systems.
The State Board of Elections shall develop and implement the system so that each county board of elections can:
(1)	Verify that an applicant to register in its county is not also registered in another county;
(2)	Be notified automatically that a registered voter in its county has registered to vote in another county; and
(3)	Receive automatically data about a person who has applied to vote at a drivers license office or at another public agency that is authorized to accept voter registration applications.
	Each county board of elections shall be responsible for registering voters within its county according to law. Each county board of elections shall maintain its own computer file of registered voters in accordance with rules promulgated by the State Board of Elections. Each county board of elections shall transmit through the computer network all additions, deletions, and changes in its list of registered voters immediately to the statewide computer file. The State Board of Elections shall maintain a continually updated duplicate file of each county's registered voters.
"§ 163-83.1. Promulgation of rules relating to voter registration.
(a)	The State Board of Elections shall make all rules necessary to administer the statewide voter registration system established by this Article.  These rules shall include provisions for:
(1)	Establishing, developing, and maintaining a computerized central voter registration file;
(2)	Linking the central file through a network with computerized voter registration files in each of the counties;
(3)	Interacting with the computerized drivers license records of the Division of Motor Vehicles and with the computerized records of other public agencies authorized to accept voter registration applications;
(4)	Protecting and securing the data; and
(5)	Converting current voter registration records in the counties in computer files that can be used on the statewide computerized registration system.
(b)	To the extent that rules adopted under this Article conflict with Article 7 of this Chapter, the rules shall prevail.
"§ 163-83.2.  Access to statewide voter registration file.
Beginning January 1, 1996, the State Board of Elections shall sell, upon written request, to other public and private organizations and persons magnetic copies of the statewide computerized voter registration file. The State Board of Elections may sell selective lists of registered voters according to county, congressional or legislative district, party affiliation, sex, race, date of registration, or any other reasonable category, or a combination of categories. The State Board of Elections shall require all persons to whom any list is furnished under this section to make full reimbursement of the expenses incurred in preparing it."
Sec. 2.  There is appropriated from the General Fund to the State Board of Elections the sum of one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000) for the 1993-94 fiscal year for writing software requirements specifications for a statewide computerized voter registration system.  These specifications shall include, but not necessarily be limited to, functional requirements, performance requirements, interface requirements with other computer applications, data communications requirements, computer application design requirements, and project development standards.
The State Board of Elections shall use an outside consultant, procured through the Department of Administration, Division of Purchase and Contract, to write the software requirement specifications. In requests for bids, requests for quotes, requests for proposals, or other procurement actions issued through the Department of Administration, Division of Purchase and Contract, or through any other State agency, for a consultant to write these specifications there shall be a provision that reads as follows:
"Eligibility for Future Requirements:  The successful offeror on this project will not be considered for an award on subsequent hardware, software, software support, and related procurements which are based on specifications or recommendations resulting from this procurement."
The Division of Purchase and Contract and the State agency or agencies involved in the procurement may delete this provision in a procurement request by jointly:
(1)	Filing a written request with the Director of the Budget for authorization to delete this provision from the procurement effort,
(2)	Sending a copy of this written request for authorization to the Director of the Fiscal Research Division at the time it is filed with the Office of State Budget, 
(3)	Receiving written authorization to delete the provision from the Director of the Budget, and 
(4)	Reporting the authorization, if it is granted, to the Director of the Fiscal Research Division and to the next meeting of the Joint Legislative Commission on Governmental Operations.
Sec. 3.  There is appropriated from the General Fund to the State Board of Elections the sum of two million five hundred sixty thousand six hundred four dollars ($2,560,604) for fiscal year 1993-94 to be spent in accordance with the software requirements specifications written pursuant to Section 2 of this act, as follows:
(1)	$1,415,390 for development and installation of voter registration system software and for conversion of current registration records in each of the 100 county boards of elections and in the State Board of Elections office; and 
(2)	$1,145,214 for the purchase and installation of personal computer and communications hardware in each county.
Sec. 4.  There is appropriated from the General Fund to the State Board of Elections the sum of seven hundred forty thousand three hundred thirty-three dollars ($740,333) for the 1994-95 fiscal year to be spent in accordance with the software requirements specifications written pursuant to Section 2 of this act, as follows:
(1)	$198,155 to maintain and support voter registration system software after installation;
(2)	$160,333 to maintain and support personal computer and communications hardware;
(3)	$201,845 for operations support facilities, equipment, and staff in the State Board of Elections office; and
(4)	$180,000 for communications charges for the statewide network.
Sec. 5.  This act becomes effective July 1, 1993.