Bill Summary – FastDemocracy

WEST VIRGINIA LEGISLATURE
REGULAR SESSION
                   Enrolled Committee Substitute for Senate Bill 623
          By Senators Tarr and Woodrum [Passed March 8, 2024; to take effect January 1,
                       2025]
     Enr CS for SB 623
  AN ACT to amend and reenact §3-2-11 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating
          to requiring Division of Motor Vehicles to provide images of persons issued any
          identification or license to the Secretary of State for voter identification purposes; requiring
          Division of Motor Vehicles to create regular process; requiring Division of Motor Vehicles to
          release and forward certain information; and providing an internal effective date for the
          amendments to this section.
     Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
     ARTICLE 2. REGISTRATION OF VOTERS.
     §3-2-11.        Registration in       conjunction with driver licensing.
          (a) The Division of Motor Vehicles or other division or department that may be established
  by law to perform motor vehicle driver licensing services, shall obtain as an integral and
  simultaneous part of every process of application for the issuance, renewal, or change of address
  of a motor vehicle driver’s license, or official identification card pursuant to §17B-2-1 et seq. of this
  code, when the division’s regional offices are open for regular business, the following information
  from each qualified registrant:
          (1) Full name, including first, middle, last, and any premarital names;
          (2) Date of birth;
          (3) Residence address and mailing address, if different;
         (4) The applicant’s electronic signature and photograph;
         (5) Telephone number, if available;
         (6) Email address, if available;
         (7) Political party membership, if any;
         (8) Driver’s license number and last four digits of Social Security number;
         (9) A notation that the applicant has attested that he or she meets all voter eligibility
 requirements;
         (10) United States citizenship status;
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         (11) Whether the applicant affirmatively declined to become registered to vote during the
 transaction with the Division of Motor Vehicles;
         (12) Date of application; and
         (13) Any other information specified in rules adopted to implement this section.
         (b) Unless the applicant affirmatively declines to become registered to vote or update his or
 her voter registration during the transaction with the Division of Motor Vehicles, the Division of
 Motor Vehicles shall release all of the information obtained pursuant to subsection (a) of this
 section to the Secretary of State, who shall forward the information to the county clerk for the
 relevant county to process the newly registered voter or updated information for the already-
 registered voter pursuant to law. The Division of Motor Vehicles shall notify the applicant that by
 submitting his or her signature, the applicant grants written consent for the submission of the
 information obtained and required to be submitted to the Secretary of State pursuant to this
 section.
         (c) As soon as practicable, but no later than 90 days following the effective date of
 amendments made during the 2024 regular legislative session, the Division of Motor Vehicles
 shall create a regular process, including, but not limited to, the requirements of §3-2-11(p) of this
 code, that ensures the Secretary of State can fulfill his or her duties as provided by §3-2-3 of this
 code to confirm that any applicant to register to vote in West Virginia through the Division of Motor
 Vehicles is in fact a U.S. citizen eligible to vote in West Virginia and to ensure that persons who are
 noncitizens of the United States have not and cannot register to vote in West Virginia.
         (d) Information regarding a person’s failure to sign the voter registration application is
 confidential and may not be used for any purpose other than to determine voter registration.
         (e) A qualified voter who submits the required information or update to his or her voter
 registration, pursuant to the provisions of subsection (a) of this section, in person at a driver
 licensing facility at the time of applying for, obtaining, renewing, or transferring his or her driver’s
 license or official identification card, and who presents identification and proof of age at that time,
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 is not required to make his or her first vote in person or to again present identification in order to
 make that registration valid.
        (f) A qualified voter, who submits, by mail or by delivery by a third party, an application for
 registration on the form used in conjunction with driver licensing, is required to make his or her first
 vote in person and present identification as required for other mail registration in accordance with
 §3-2-10(g) of this code. If the applicant has been previously registered in the jurisdiction and the
 application is for a change of address, change of name, change of political party affiliation, or other
 correction, the presentation of identification and first vote in person is not required.
        (g) An application for voter registration submitted pursuant to the provisions of this section
 updates a previous voter registration by the applicant and authorizes the cancellation of
 registration in any other county or state in which the applicant was previously registered.
        (h) A change of address from one residence to another within the same county which is
 submitted for driver licensing or nonoperator’s identification purposes in accordance with
 applicable law, serves as a notice of change of address for voter registration purposes if requested
 by the applicant after notice and written consent of the applicant.
        (i) Completed applications for voter registration or change of address for voting purposes
 received by an office providing driver licensing services shall be forwarded to the Secretary of
 State within five days of receipt unless other means are available for a more expedited
 transmission. The Secretary of State shall remove and file any forms which have not been signed
 by the applicant and shall forward completed, signed applications to the clerk of the appropriate
 county commission within five days of receipt.
        (j) Voter registration application forms containing voter information which are returned to a
 driver licensing office unsigned shall be collected by the Division of Motor Vehicles, submitted to
 the Secretary of State, and maintained by the Secretary of State’s office according to the retention
 policy adopted by the Secretary of State.
        (k) The Secretary of State shall establish procedures to protect the confidentiality of the Enr CS for SB 623
 information obtained from the Division of Motor Vehicles, including any information otherwise
 required to be confidential by other provisions of this code.
        (l) A person registered to vote pursuant to this section may cancel his or her voter
 registration at any time by any method available to any other registered voter.
        (m) This section does not require the Division of Motor Vehicles to determine eligibility for
 voter registration and voting.
        (n) Except for the changes made to subsection (b) of this section during the 2017 regular
 legislative session, the changes made to this section during the 2016 regular legislative session
 become effective on July 1, 2021, and any costs associated therewith shall be paid by the Division
 of Motor Vehicles. The Commissioner of the Division of Motor Vehicles, the Secretary of the
 Department of Transportation, and the Secretary of State shall each appear before the Joint
 Committee on Government and Finance and the Joint Standing Committee on the Judiciary,
 during the first interim meetings of such committees occurring after September 1, 2019, to present
 written reports containing a full and complete list of any infrastructure each agency requires to
 achieve the purposes of this section. Along with the report required by this subsection, the Division
 of Motor Vehicles shall submit a written schedule to both committees outlining how the division will
 implement the requirements of this section by July 1, 2021.
        (o) The Secretary of State shall propose rules for legislative approval in accordance with
 §29A-3-1 et seq. of this code to implement the requirements of this section.
        (p) Notwithstanding any other provisions of this code to the contrary, the Division of Motor
 Vehicles shall expeditiously and comprehensively release and forward all information obtained
 pursuant to subsection (a) of this section purporting to document an applicant’s status as a U.S.
 citizen to the Secretary of State of any applicant attempting to register to vote in West Virginia.
 This information shall be used for the express purpose of expediting the Secretary of State’s
 fulfillment of his or her duties pursuant to §3-2-11(c) and §3-2-3 of this code requiring the Secretary
 of State to confirm that persons who are noncitizens of the United States have not and cannot Enr CS for SB 623
 register to vote in the state of West Virginia.
        (q) The amendments to this section enacted by the Legislature in the 2024 regular session
 are effective January 1, 2025.
Statutes affected: 
Introduced Version: 3-2-11
Committee Substitute: 3-2-11
Enrolled Committee Substitute: 3-2-11