HB4749 100TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

LRB100 19105 MJP 34363 b

100TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2017 and 2018
HB4749

Introduced , by Rep. Mike Fortner

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:

10 ILCS 5/1A-16.2

Amends the Election Code. Provides that provisions concerning automatic voter registration and designated automatic voter registration agencies shall be implemented no later than 90 days after the federal Real ID database is certified by the Secretary of State (rather than July 1, 2019).

A BILL FOR

AN ACT concerning elections.

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly:

Section 5. The Election Code is amended by changing Section 1A-16.2 as follows:

(10 ILCS 5/1A-16.2)

Sec. 1A-16.2. Automatic voter registration; designated automatic voter registration agencies.

(a) Each designated automatic voter registration agency shall, pursuant to an interagency contract and jointly-adopted rules with the State Board of Elections, agree to participate in an automatic voter registration program established by the State Board of Elections that satisfies the requirements of this Section and other applicable law. If the designated automatic voter registration agency provides applications, applications for renewal, change of address forms, or recertification forms to individuals for services offered by another agency, then the State Board of Elections and the designated automatic voter agency shall consult with the other agency. The State Board of Elections shall consider the current technological capabilities of the designated voter registration agency when drafting interagency contracts and jointly-adopted rules. The State Board of Elections and the designated automatic voter registration agency shall amend these contracts and rules as the technological capabilities of the designated voter registration agencies improve.

(b) As provided in subsection (a) of this Section, each designated automatic voter registration agency that collects or cross-references reliable personal information indicating citizenship status may provide that an application for a license, permit, program, or service shall serve as a dual-purpose application. The dual-purpose application shall:

(1) also serve as an application to register to vote in Illinois;

(2) allow an applicant to change his or her registered residence address or name as it appears on the voter registration rolls;

(3) provide the applicant with an opportunity to affirmatively decline to register to vote or change his or her registered residence address or name by providing a check box on the application form without requiring the applicant to state the reason; and

(4) unless the applicant declines to register to vote or to change his or her registered residence address or name, require the applicant to attest, by signature under penalty of perjury, to meeting the qualifications to register to vote in Illinois at his or her residence address as indicated on his or her dual-purpose application.

(c) As provided in subsection (a) of this Section, each designated automatic voter registration agency that does not collect or cross-reference records containing reliable personal information indicating citizenship status may provide that an application, an application for renewal, a change of address form, or a recertification form for a license, permit, program, or service shall serve as a dual-purpose application. The dual-purpose application shall:

(1) also serve as an application to register to vote in Illinois;

(2) allow an applicant to change his or her registered residence address or name as it appears on the voter registration rolls; and

(3) if the applicant chooses to register to vote or to change his or her registered residence address or name, then require the applicant to attest, by a separate signature under penalty of perjury, to meeting the qualifications to register to vote in Illinois at his or her residence address as indicated on his or her dual-purpose application.

(c-5) The designated automatic voter registration agency shall clearly and conspicuously inform each applicant in writing: (i) of the qualifications to register to vote in Illinois, (ii) of the penalties provided by law for submission of a false voter registration application, (iii) that, unless the applicant declines to register to vote or update his or her voter registration, his or her application shall also serve as both an application to register to vote and his or her attestation that he or she meets the eligibility requirements for voter registration, and that his or her application to register to vote or update his or her registration will be transmitted to the State Board of Elections for the purpose of registering the person to vote at the residence address to be indicated on the dual-purpose application, (iv) that information identifying the agency at which he or she applied to register to vote is confidential, (v) that declining to register to vote is confidential and will not affect any services the person may be seeking from the agency, and (vi) any additional information needed in order to comply with Section 7 of the federal National Voter Registration Act of 1993.

(d) The designated automatic voter registration agency shall review information provided to the agency by the State Board of Elections to inform each applicant whether the applicant is currently registered to vote in Illinois and, if registered, at what address.

(e) The designated automatic voter registration agency shall not require an applicant for a dual-purpose application to provide duplicate identification or information in order to complete an application to register to vote or change his or her registered residence address or name. Before transmitting any personal information about an applicant to the State Board of Elections, the agency shall review its records of the identification documents the applicant provided or that the agency cross-references in order to complete the dual-purpose application, to confirm that nothing in those documents indicates that the applicant does not satisfy the qualifications to register to vote in Illinois at his or her residence address. A completed and signed dual-purpose application, including a completed application under subsection (c) of this Section with a separate signature attesting that the applicant meets the qualifications to register to vote in Illinois at his or her residence address as indicated on his or her application, shall constitute an application to register to vote in Illinois at the residence address indicated in the application unless the person affirmatively declined in the application to register to vote or to change his or her registered residence address or name. If the identification documents provided to complete the dual-purpose application, or that the agency cross-references, indicate that he or she does not satisfy the qualifications to register to vote in Illinois at his or her residence address, the application shall be marked as incomplete.

(f) For each completed and signed dual-purpose application that constitutes an application to register to vote in Illinois or provides for a change in the applicant's registered residence address or name, the designated automatic voter registration agency shall electronically transmit to the State Board of Elections personal information needed to complete the person's registration to vote in Illinois at his or her residence address. The application to register to vote shall be processed in accordance with Section 1A-16.7.

(g) As used in this Section:

"Designated automatic voter registration agency" or "agency" means the divisions of Family and Community Services and Rehabilitation Services of the Department of Human Services, the Department of Employment Security, the Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, the Department of Natural Resources, or an agency of the State or federal government that has been determined by the State Board of Elections to have access to reliable personal information and has entered into an interagency contract with the State Board of Elections to participate in the automatic voter registration program under this Section.

"Dual-purpose application" means an application, an application for renewal, a change of address form, or a recertification form for a license, permit, program, or service offered by a designated automatic voter registration agency that also serves as an application to register to vote in Illinois.

"Reliable personal information" means information about individuals obtained from government sources that may be used to verify whether an individual is eligible to register to vote.

(h) This Section shall be implemented no later than 90 days after the federal Real ID database is certified by the Secretary of State July 1, 2019.

(Source: P.A. 100-464, eff. 8-28-17.)