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West Virginia Statutes § 3-2-10 Application for registration by mail

⤴ Up to Article 2: Registration of Voters

Statute Text

(a) Any qualified person may apply to register, change, transfer or correct his or her voter registration by mail. Application shall be made on a prescribed form as provided by section five of this article.
(b) To the extent possible, with funds allocated annually for such purpose, the Secretary of State shall make state mail registration forms available for distribution through governmental and private entities and organized voter registration programs. The Secretary of State shall make a record of all requests by entities or organizations for two hundred or more forms with a description of the dates and locations in which the proposed registration drive is to be conducted. The Secretary of State shall also require the entity or organization requesting the forms to provide contact information on a form prescribed by the Secretary of State. The Secretary of State may limit the distribution to a reasonable amount per group.
(c) The clerk of the county commission shall provide up to four mail registration forms to any resident of the county upon request. To the extent possible with funds allocated annually for the purpose, the clerk of the county commission shall make state mail registration forms available for distribution through organized voter registration programs within the county. The clerk of the county commission shall make a record of all requests by entities or organizations for ten or more forms with a description of the dates and locations in which the proposed registration drive is to be conducted. The clerk may limit the distribution to a reasonable amount per group.
(d) The applicant shall provide all required information and, only after completing the information, sign the prescribed applicant's oath under penalty of perjury as provided in section thirty-six of this article. No person may alter or add any entry or make any mark which would alter any material information on the voter registration application after the applicant has signed the oath: Provided, That the clerk of the county commission may correct any entry upon the request of the applicant provided the request is properly documented and the correction is dated and initialed by the clerk.
(e) Completed applications shall be mailed or delivered to the clerk of the county commission of the county in which the voter resides. If a clerk receives a completed mail application form from a voter whose residence address is located in another county, the clerk shall forward that application within three days to the clerk of the county commission of the county of the applicant's residence.
(f) Upon receipt of the application for registration by the appropriate clerk of the county commission, the clerk shall:
(1) Attempt to establish whether the residence address given is within the boundaries of an incorporated municipality and, if so, make the proper entry required for municipal residents to be properly identified for municipal voter registration purposes; and
(2) Immediately begin the verification process required by the provisions of section sixteen of this article.
(g) Any person who registers by mail pursuant to this section and who has not previously voted in an election in the state shall be required to present the following forms of identification to the Secretary of State or clerk of the county commission:
(1) In the case of an individual who votes in person, a current and valid photo identification; or a copy of a current utility bill, bank statement, government check, paycheck or other government document that shows the name and address of the voter;
(2) In the case of an individual who votes by mail, a copy of a current and valid photo identification or a copy of a current utility bill, bank statement, government check, paycheck or other government document that shows the name and address of the voter, submitted with the ballot.
(h) An individual who desires to vote in person or by mail, but who does not meet the requirements of subsection (g) of this section, may cast a provisional ballot.
(i) Subsection (g) of this section does not apply in the case of a person:
(1) Who registers to vote by mail under 42 U.S.C. § 1973gg - 4, et seq ., and submits as part of his or her registration either a copy of a current and valid photo identification or a copy of a current utility bill, bank statement, government check, paycheck or government document that shows the name and address of the voter;
(2)
(A) Who registers to vote by mail under 42 U.S.C. § 1973gg - 4, et seq. , and submits with his or her registration either a driver's license number or at least the last four digits of the individual's social security number; and
(B) with respect to whom the Secretary of State or clerk of the county commission matches the information submitted under paragraph (A) of this subdivision with an existing state identification record bearing the same number, name and date of birth as provided in the registration; or
(3) Who is:
(A) Entitled to vote by absentee ballot under 42 U.S.C. § 1973ff - 1, et seq. , the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act;
(B) provided the right to vote otherwise than in person under 42 U.S.C. § 1973ee - 1(b)(2)(B)(ii); or 25 (iii), section 3(b)(2)(B)(ii) of the Voting Accessibility for the Elderly and Handicapped Act;
(C) entitled to vote otherwise than in person under any other federal law: Provided , That any person who has applied for an absentee ballot pursuant to the provisions of subdivision (1), subsection (b), section one, article three of this chapter; paragraph (B), subdivision (2) of said subsection; subdivision (3) of said subsection; or subsection (c) of said section may not have his or her ballot in that election challenged for failure to appear in person or for failure to present identification.
(j) Any person who submits a state mail voter registration application to the clerk of the county commission in the county in which he or she is currently registered for the purpose of entering a change of address within the county, making a change of party affiliation or recording a change of legal name shall not be required to make his or her first vote in person or to present identification or proof of age.
(k) On and after the first day of July, two thousand six, any person who agrees to mail or to deliver a signed voter registration application to the Secretary of State or the clerk of the county commission and who intentionally interferes with the applicant's effort to register either by destroying the application or by failing to mail or to deliver the application in a timely manner is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not more than one thousand dollars, or confined in a jail for not more than one year, or both. For purposes of this subsection, the mailing or delivery of an application is timely if it is mailed or delivered within fifteen days after the applicant signs the application or in accordance with the provisions of article two, chapter three of this code for processing before the closing of the registration records for the pending election, whichever comes first.
(l) On or after the first day of July, two thousand six, any person who intentionally solicits multiple registrations from any one person or who intentionally falsifies a registration application is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not more than one thousand dollars, or confined in jail for not more than one year, or both.

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