Senate File 2078 - Introduced
SENATE FILE 2078
BY SALMON
A BILL FOR
1 An Act relating to voter registration, including verification
2 of voter citizenship.
3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:
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1 Section 1. NEW SECTION. 48A.33A Verification of
2 citizenship.
3 1. The United States citizenship of each registrant shall
4 be verified as provided in subsection 2 before the person
5 is allowed to cast a regular ballot. The citizenship of a
6 registrant shall be verified as provided in subsection 2 only
7 once.
8 2. a. The registrar shall attempt to verify the citizenship
9 of the registrant using the driver’s license database
10 maintained by the department of transportation. If the
11 registrar confirms that the registrant is a citizen of the
12 United States, the registrant’s voter registration shall be
13 made active and the registrant shall be allowed to cast a
14 regular ballot.
15 b. If the registrar is unable to verify the registrant’s
16 citizenship pursuant to paragraph “a”, the registrar shall
17 attempt to verify the registrant’s citizenship using
18 appropriate federal databases, including but not limited to
19 the systematic alien verification for entitlements system
20 and the e-verify system of the United States citizenship and
21 immigration services. If the registrar confirms that the
22 registrant is a citizen of the United States, the registrant’s
23 voter registration shall be made active and the registrant
24 shall be allowed to cast a regular ballot.
25 c. (1) If the registrar is unable to verify the
26 registrant’s citizenship pursuant to paragraph “a” or “b”, the
27 registrar shall inform the registrant by mail requesting that
28 the registrant produce one of the following documents verifying
29 the registrant’s United States citizenship:
30 (a) A birth certificate showing birth in the United States.
31 (b) A certificate of naturalization.
32 (c) A certification of citizenship.
33 (d) A report of birth abroad of a United States citizen.
34 (e) A United States passport.
35 (2) If the registrar confirms that the registrant is
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1 a citizen of the United States, the registrant’s voter
2 registration shall be made active and the registrant shall be
3 allowed to cast a regular ballot. If the registrar is unable
4 to confirm that the registrant is a United States citizen, the
5 registrant shall not be registered to vote.
6 3. The state registrar of voters shall verify the United
7 States citizenship of each registered voter as provided in
8 subsection 2 whose citizenship was not verified pursuant to
9 subsection 2 at the time of registration. The state registrar
10 of voters shall cancel the registration of a voter found to be
11 ineligible pursuant to section 48A.30.
12 4. This section does not prohibit a person whose voter
13 registration was rejected or canceled pursuant to this
14 section but who later attains United States citizenship from
15 registering to vote.
16 EXPLANATION
17 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with
18 the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly.
19 This bill relates to voter registration.
20 The bill requires a county commissioner of registration to
21 verify the U.S. citizenship of a person prior to registering
22 the person to vote and allowing the person to cast a regular
23 ballot. The bill requires the commissioner to first attempt to
24 verify the citizenship of the registrant using the department
25 of transportation’s driver’s license database. If the
26 commissioner is unable to verify the registrant’s citizenship
27 using the driver’s license database, the commissioner
28 shall attempt to do so using appropriate federal databases,
29 including but not limited to systematic alien verification
30 for entitlement and e-verify systems of the U.S. citizenship
31 and immigration services. If the commissioner cannot verify
32 the registrant’s citizenship using federal databases, the
33 commissioner shall request that the registrant produce a
34 document, listed in the bill, that verifies the registrant’s
35 citizenship. If the commission is unable to verify the
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1 registrant’s citizenship, the registrant shall not be
2 registered to vote. The bill requires the state registrar of
3 voters to verify the U.S. citizenship of current registered
4 voters and to cancel the registration of registered voters
5 whose citizenship cannot be verified.
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