Existing law requires, with certain exceptions, that in order to vote a mail ballot, a voter must affix his or her signature on the return envelope in the space provided for the signature. (NRS 293.269917, 293C.26316) Existing law further requires each county or city clerk, as applicable, to check the signature used for the mail ballot. If there is a reasonable question of fact as to whether the signature used for the mail ballot matches the signature of the voter in the records of the clerk, the clerk is required to contact the voter. (NRS 293.269927, 293C.26327) Sections 1 and 5 of this bill provide that if the clerk contacts the voter, the clerk must, in addition to other requirements, affirmatively ask whether the voter would like to update his or her signature in the records of the clerk. Unless the voter affirmatively declines to update his or her signature: (1) it shall be deemed that the voter consented to update his or her signature; and (2) any signature provided by the registered voter to the clerk becomes the voter's signature for purposes of his or her voter registration.
Existing law requires certain governmental agencies to provide services for automatic voter registration. (NRS 293.5768, 293.57682, 293.57684) The Secretary of State and each automatic voter registration agency are required to cooperatively establish a system by which voter registration information that is collected by the automatic voter registration agency is transmitted electronically to the centralized database of voter registration information for purposes of registering a person to vote or updating the voter registration information of a person. (NRS 293.57686, 293.57688) Upon transmission of the information to the database by an automatic voter registration agency, existing law requires the county clerk to determine whether a person is eligible to register to vote in this State. If the person is eligible to vote, the county clerk must immediately mail a notice to the current residence that includes certain information, including: (1) a space for the person to indicate a political party affiliation; (2) a space for the person to affirmatively decline to apply to register to vote or have his or her voter registration updated, as applicable; (3) a statement setting forth the qualifications to vote in this State and that if the person does not meet the qualifications to vote in this State, the person should return the notice and affirmatively decline in writing to register to vote; (4) a statement explaining that the person may affirmatively decline to register to vote or update his or her voter registration information, as applicable; and (5) a statement setting forth the penalties for submitting a false application to register to vote. (NRS 293.57693) Section 4 of this bill instead requires the Secretary of State to send this notice. Section 3 of this bill makes a conforming change to account for the requirement in section 4 that the Secretary of State, rather than the county clerk, send this notice. Section 2 of this bill makes a conforming change to eliminate the requirement that the county clerk provide written notice of the addition or change to the voter registration information of a voter on the statewide voter registration list as a result of the process for automatic voter registration.