LB742 LB742
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LEGISLATURE OF NEBRASKA
ONE HUNDRED EIGHTH LEGISLATURE
FIRST SESSION
LEGISLATIVE BILL 742
Introduced by Vargas, 7.
Read first time January 18, 2023
Committee: Government, Military and Veterans Affairs
1 A BILL FOR AN ACT relating to elections; to amend sections 32-307,
2 32-308, 32-315, 32-1506, 60-484, 60-484.02, 60-4,130, 60-4,130.02,
3 and 60-4,144, Reissue Revised Statutes of Nebraska, and sections
4 32-202, 32-301, 32-301.01, 32-312, and 32-1002, Revised Statutes
5 Cumulative Supplement, 2022; to change provisions relating to
6 registration of voters and voting; to change penalty provisions; to
7 eliminate obsolete provisions; to harmonize provisions; to repeal
8 the original sections; and to outright repeal section 32-309,
9 Reissue Revised Statutes of Nebraska.
10 Be it enacted by the people of the State of Nebraska,
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1 Section 1. Section 32-202, Revised Statutes Cumulative Supplement,
2 2022, is amended to read:
3 32-202 In addition to any other duties prescribed by law, the
4 Secretary of State shall:
5 (1) Supervise the conduct of primary and general elections in this
6 state;
7 (2) Provide training and support for election commissioners, county
8 clerks, and other election officials in providing for day-to-day
9 operations of the office, registration of voters, and the conduct of
10 elections;
11 (3) Enforce the Election Act;
12 (4) With the assistance and advice of the Attorney General, make
13 uniform interpretations of the act;
14 (5) Provide periodic training for the agencies and their agents and
15 contractors in carrying out their duties under sections 32-308 to 32-310;
16 (6) Develop and print forms for use as required by sections 32-308,
17 32-310, 32-320, 32-329, 32-947, 32-956, and 32-958;
18 (7) Contract with the Department of Administrative Services for
19 storage and distribution of the forms;
20 (8) Require reporting to ensure compliance with sections 32-308 and
21 to 32-310;
22 (9) Prepare and transmit reports as required by the National Voter
23 Registration Act of 1993, 52 U.S.C. 20501 et seq.;
24 (10) Develop and print a manual describing the requirements of the
25 initiative and referendum process and distribute the manual to election
26 commissioners and county clerks for distribution to the public upon
27 request;
28 (11) Develop and print pamphlets described in section 32-1405.01;
29 (12) Adopt and promulgate rules and regulations as necessary for
30 elections conducted under sections 32-952 to 32-959; and
31 (13) Establish a free access system, such as a toll-free telephone
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1 number or an Internet website, that any voter who casts a provisional
2 ballot may access to discover whether the vote of that voter was counted
3 and, if the vote was not counted, the reason that the vote was not
4 counted. The Secretary of State shall establish and maintain reasonable
5 procedures necessary to protect the security, confidentiality, and
6 integrity of personal information collected, stored, or otherwise used by
7 the free access system. Access to information about an individual
8 provisional ballot shall be restricted to the individual who cast the
9 ballot.
10 Sec. 2. Section 32-301, Revised Statutes Cumulative Supplement,
11 2022, is amended to read:
12 32-301 (1) The Secretary of State shall implement, in a uniform and
13 nondiscriminatory manner, a single, uniform, official, centralized,
14 interactive computerized statewide voter registration list defined,
15 maintained, and administered at the office of the Secretary of State that
16 contains the name and registration information of every legally
17 registered voter in the state and assigns a unique identifier to each
18 legally registered voter in the state. The computerized list shall serve
19 as the single system for storing and managing the official list of
20 registered voters throughout the state and shall comprise the voter
21 registration register. The computerized list shall be coordinated with
22 other agency databases within the state and shall be available for
23 electronic access by election commissioners and county clerks. The
24 computerized list shall serve as the official voter registration list for
25 the conduct of all elections under the Election Act and beginning July 1,
26 2019, shall be the basis for electronic poll books at each precinct if
27 applicable. The Secretary of State shall provide such support as may be
28 required so that election commissioners and county clerks are able to
29 electronically enter voter registration information obtained by such
30 officials on an expedited basis at the time the information is received.
31 The Secretary of State shall provide adequate technological security
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1 measures to prevent unauthorized access to the computerized list.
2 (2) The election commissioner or county clerk shall provide for the
3 registration of the electors of the county. Upon receipt of a voter
4 registration application in his or her office from an eligible elector,
5 the election commissioner or county clerk shall enter the information
6 from the application in the voter registration register and may create an
7 electronic image, photograph, microphotograph, or reproduction in an
8 electronic digital format to be used as the voter registration record.
9 The election commissioner or county clerk shall provide a precinct list
10 of registered voters for each precinct for the use of judges and clerks
11 of election in their respective precincts on election day. Beginning July
12 1, 2019, the election commissioner or county clerk may provide an
13 electronic poll book as described in section 32-301.01 to meet the
14 requirements for a precinct list of registered voters.
15 (3) The digital signatures and photographs in the possession of the
16 Secretary of State, the election commissioner, or the county clerk shall
17 not be public records as defined in section 84-712.01 and are not subject
18 to disclosure under sections 84-712 to 84-712.09.
19 Sec. 3. Section 32-301.01, Revised Statutes Cumulative Supplement,
20 2022, is amended to read:
21 32-301.01 The Beginning July 1, 2019, the electronic poll books for
22 a precinct shall contain the list of registered voters and the sign-in
23 register for the precinct combined in one database and shall include the
24 registration information, and the digital signatures, and photographs
25 used to verify identification for the registered voters of the precinct.
26 A registered voter without a photograph in the electronic poll book shall
27 be required to show identification or photographic identification, in the
28 form determined by law, before casting a ballot.
29 Sec. 4. Section 32-307, Reissue Revised Statutes of Nebraska, is
30 amended to read:
31 32-307 No materials advocating or advertising any political issue,
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1 candidate, or party shall be displayed or distributed within fifty feet
2 of any voter registration site. No alcohol shall be served within fifty
3 feet of any voter registration site. The registration procedure shall be
4 conducted in a neutral manner and shall not be connected with anything
5 unrelated to the object of registering electors except as otherwise
6 provided in sections 32-308 and to 32-310.
7 Sec. 5. Section 32-308, Reissue Revised Statutes of Nebraska, is
8 amended to read:
9 32-308 (1) The Secretary of State and the Director of Motor Vehicles
10 shall enter into an agreement to match information in the computerized
11 statewide voter registration list with information in the database of the
12 Department of Motor Vehicles to the extent required to enable each such
13 official to verify the accuracy of the information provided on
14 applications for voter registration. The Director of Motor Vehicles shall
15 enter into an agreement with the Commissioner of Social Security under
16 section 205(r)(8) of the federal Social Security Act, 42 U.S.C. 405(r)
17 (8), as such section existed on April 17, 2003, for purposes of the
18 Election Act.
19 (2) The Department of Motor Vehicles, with the assistance of the
20 Secretary of State, shall prescribe a voter registration application
21 which may be used to register to vote or change his or her address for
22 voting purposes at the same time an elector applies for an original or
23 renewal motor vehicle operator's license, an original or renewal state
24 identification card, or a replacement thereof. The voter registration
25 application shall be designed so that the elector's information is
26 transmitted to the election commissioner or county clerk pursuant to
27 subsection (3) of this section unless the elector specifies on the form
28 that he or she does not want to register to vote or update his or her
29 voter registration record. The voter registration application shall
30 contain the information required pursuant to section 32-312 and shall be
31 designed so that it does not require the duplication of information in
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1 the application for the motor vehicle operator's license or state
2 identification card, except that it may require a second signature of the
3 applicant. The department and the Secretary of State shall make the voter
4 registration application available to any person applying for an
5 operator's license or state identification card. The application shall be
6 completed at the office of the department by the close of business on the
7 third Friday preceding any election to be registered to vote at such
8 election. A registration application received after the deadline shall
9 not be processed by the election commissioner or county clerk until after
10 the election. If a voter registration application is submitted under this
11 section with the signature of the applicant but the applicant is not
12 eligible to register to vote, the submission shall not be considered a
13 violation of section 32-1502 or 32-1503 and the document submitted shall
14 not be considered a valid or completed voter registration application for
15 purposes of registration or enforcement of the Election Act unless the
16 applicant has willfully and knowingly taken affirmative steps to register
17 to vote knowing that he or she is not eligible to do so.
18 (3) The Department of Motor Vehicles, in conjunction with the
19 Secretary of State, shall develop a process to electronically transmit
20 voter registration application information received under subsection (2)
21 of this section to the election commissioner or county clerk of the
22 county in which the applicant resides within the time limits prescribed
23 in subsection (4) of this section for each applicant who indicates on the
24 application that he or she is a citizen of the United States and at least
25 eighteen years of age or will be eighteen years of age on or before the
26 first Tuesday after the first Monday in November of the then-current
27 year. The Department of Motor Vehicles shall not transmit voter
28 registration application information for applications pursuant to section
29 60-480.01. The Director of Motor Vehicles shall designate an
30 implementation date for the process which shall be on or before January
31 1, 2016.
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1 (4) The voter registration application information shall be
2 transmitted to the election commissioner or county clerk of the county in
3 which the applicant resides not later than ten days after receipt, except
4 that if the voter registration application information is received within
5 five days prior to the third Friday preceding any election, it shall be
6 transmitted not later than five days after its original submission. Any
7 information on whether an applicant registers or declines to register and
8 the location of the office at which he or she registers shall be
9 confidential and shall only be used for voter registration purposes.
10 (5) For each voter registration application for which information is
11 transmitted electronically pursuant to this section, the Secretary of
12 State shall obtain a copy of the electronic representation of the
13 applicant's signature from the Department of Motor Vehicles' records of
14 his or her motor vehicle operator's license or state identification card
15 for purposes of voter registration. Each voter registration application
16 electronically transmitted under this section shall include information
17 provided by the applicant that includes whether the applicant is a
18 citizen of the United States, whether the applicant is of sufficient age
19 to register to vote, the applicant's residence address, the applicant's
20 postal address if different from the residence address, the date of birth
21 of the applicant, the party affiliation of the applicant or an indication
22 that the applicant is not affiliated with any political party, the
23 applicant's motor vehicle operator's license number, the applicant's
24 previous registration location by city, county, or state, if applicable,
25 and the applicant's signature.
26 (6) State agency personnel involved in the voter registration
27 process pursuant to this section and section 32-309 shall not be
28 considered deputy registrars or agents or employees of the election
29 commissioner or county clerk.
30 Sec. 6. Section 32-312, Revised Statutes Cumulative Supplement,
31 2022, is amended to read:
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1 32-312 The registration application prescribed by the Secretary of
2 State pursuant to section 32-304 or 32-311.01 shall provide the
3 instructional statements and request the information from the applicant
4 as provided in this section.
5 CITIZENSHIP—"Are you a citizen of the United States of America?"
6 with boxes to check to indicate whether the applicant is or is not a
7 citizen of the United States.
8 AGE—"Are you at least eighteen years of age or will you be eighteen
9 years of age on or before the first Tuesday following the first Monday of
10 November of this year?" with boxes to check to indicate whether or not
11 the applicant will be eighteen years of age or older on election day.
12 WARNING—"If you checked 'no' in response to either of these
13 questions, do not complete this application.".
14 NAME—the name of the applicant giving the first and last name in
15 full, the middle name in full or the middle initial, and the maiden name
16 of the applicant, if applicable.
17 RESIDENCE—the name and number of the street, avenue, or other
18 location of the dwelling where the applicant resides if there is a
19 number. If the registrant resides in a hotel, apartment, tenement house,
20 or institution, such additional information shall be included as will
21 give the exact