An Act to protect the integrity and accuracy of voter registration information.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of South Dakota:
Section 1. That chapter 12-4 be amended with a NEW SECTION:
By February first of each year, each county auditor shall provide a report to the Secretary of State and the State Board of Elections that provides the number of voters removed from the voter registration list from the previous year due to:
(1) Inactivity;
(2) Death;
(3) Felony conviction;
(4) Mental incompetence; or
(5) Relocation to another jurisdiction.
The State Board of Elections shall promulgate rules pursuant to chapter 1-26 to designate the form and contents of the report.
The report's contents must be made available for public inspection.
Section 2. That 12-4-15 be AMENDED:
12-4-15.
A person may
designate or change that person's party affiliation, name, or address
by completing a new registration card.
For any registration card completed by a person changing that
person's party affiliation, name, or address, if
A
registered voter shall update the voter's registration information
after changing a place of residence or legally changing the voter's
name. If the
field for party affiliation is left blank
on the registration card,
the person's party affiliation shall be the most recent party
affiliation registered for that person. For any registration card
completed by a person who is registering to vote for the first time
in this state, if the field for party affiliation is left blank, the
party affiliation shall be registered as independent or no party
affiliation.
Section 3. That 12-4-18 be AMENDED:
12-4-18. The clerk of courts shall, within fifteen days after the close of each month, prepare and deliver to the auditor an abstract from the records of the names of persons declared mentally incompetent in the preceding month. The notice shall be sent to the county auditor of the county in which the person declared incompetent resides. The county auditor shall remove from the master registration list the names of persons identified in accordance with the information provided pursuant to this section and names of those sentenced to imprisonment in the federal penitentiary system and may remove names published in an obituary.
Voter
At least once per month, voter
registration records maintained in or transmitted to the statewide
voter registration file shall be matched with the death records
maintained as vital statistics records by the Department of Health
and the records of felony convictions maintained by the Unified
Judicial System. Any voter identified as deceased or who is serving a
sentence for a felony conviction shall be removed from the voter
registration records. The State Board of Elections may promulgate
rules, pursuant to chapter 1-26,
determining how voter registration records shall be matched.
Section 4. That 12-4-37 be AMENDED:
12-4-37.
The secretary of
state shall
establish
maintain a
secure,
computerized system for
maintaining and
utilizing the voter registration file and
for
transmitting voter registration information from each county auditor
to the Office of the Secretary of State. Each county auditor shall
transmit any changes to the master registration file or the absentee
voter log to the secretary of state on a daily basis. The county
auditor shall transmit updated information contained in the county
voter registration system, including voter registration information
and voter election history information, to the Office of the
Secretary of State,
not later than July fifteenth after each primary election and
December fifteenth after each general election.