West Virginia Statutes § 3-2-4a Statewide voter registration database

Statute Text

(a) The Secretary of State shall implement and maintain a single, official, statewide, centralized, interactive computerized voter registration database of every legally registered voter in the state, as follows:

(1) The statewide voter registration database shall serve as the single system for storing and managing the official list of registered voters throughout the state.

(2) The statewide voter registration database shall contain the name, registration information and voter history of every legally registered voter in the state.

(3) In the statewide voter registration database, the Secretary of State shall assign a unique identifier to each legally registered voter in the state.

(4) The statewide voter registration database shall be coordinated with other agency databases within the state and elsewhere, as appropriate.

(5) The Secretary of State, any clerk of the county commission, or any authorized designee of the Secretary of State or clerk of the county commission, may obtain immediate electronic access to the information contained in the statewide voter registration database.

(6) The clerk of the county commission shall electronically enter voter registration information into the statewide voter registration database on an expedited basis at the time the information is provided to the clerk.

(7) The Secretary of State shall provide necessary support to enable every clerk of the county commission in the state to enter information as described in subdivision (6) of this subsection.

(8) The statewide voter registration database shall serve as the official voter registration list for conducting all elections in the state.

(b) The provisions of subdivision (6), subsection (a) of this section notwithstanding, the Secretary of State or any clerk of a county commission shall perform maintenance with respect to the statewide voter registration database on a regular basis as follows:

(1) If an individual is to be removed from the statewide voter registration database he or she shall be removed in accordance with the provisions of 42 U. S. C. § 1973gg , et seq ., the National Voter Registration Act of 1993.

(2) The Secretary of State shall coordinate the statewide voter registration database with state agency records and shall establish procedures for the removal of names of individuals who are not qualified to vote due to felony status or death. No state agency may withhold information regarding a voter = s status as deceased or as a felon unless ordered by a court of law.

(c) The list maintenance performed under subsection (b) of this section shall be conducted in a manner that ensures that:

(1) The name of each registered voter appears in the statewide voter registration database;

(2) Only voters who are not registered, who have requested in writing that their voter registration be canceled, or who are not eligible to vote are removed from the statewide voter registration database;

(3) Duplicate names are eliminated from the statewide voter registration database; and

(4) Deceased individuals' names are eliminated from the statewide voter registration database.

(d) The Secretary of State and the clerks of all county commissions shall provide adequate technological security measures to prevent the unauthorized access to the statewide voter registration database established under this section.

(e) The Secretary of State shall ensure, and may perform such maintenance necessary to ensure, that voter registration records in the state are accurate and updated regularly, including the following:

(1) A system of file maintenance that makes a reasonable effort to remove registrants who are ineligible to vote from the official list of eligible voters. Under the system, consistent with 42 U. S. C. § 1973gg , et seq ., registrants who have not responded to a notice sent pursuant to section twenty six, article two of this chapter, who have not otherwise updated their voter registration address, and who have not voted in two consecutive general elections for federal office shall be removed from the official list of eligible voters, except that no registrant may be removed solely by reason of a failure to vote;

(2) By participation in programs across state lines to share data specifically for voter registration to ensure that voters who have moved across state lines or become deceased in another state are removed in accordance with state law and 42 U. S. C. § 1973gg , et seq. ; and

(3) Through safeguards to ensure that eligible voters are not removed in error from the official list of eligible voters.

(f) Applications for voter registration may be accepted only when the following information is provided:

(1) Except as provided in subdivision (2) of this subsection and notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, an application for voter registration may not be accepted or processed unless the application includes:

(A) In the case of an applicant who has been issued a current and valid driver's license, the applicant's driver's license number;

(B) In the case of an applicant who has been issued an identification card by the Division of Motor Vehicles, the applicant's identification number; or

(2) If an applicant for voter registration has not been issued a current and valid driver's license, Division of Motor Vehicles identification card, or a Social Security number, the Secretary of State shall assign the applicant a number which will serve to identify the applicant for voter registration purposes. The number assigned under this subdivision shall be the unique identifying number assigned under the statewide voter registration database.

(g)

(1) The Secretary of State and the Commissioner of the Division of Motor Vehicles shall enter into an agreement to match and transfer applicable information in the statewide voter registration database with information in the database of the Division of Motor Vehicles to the extent required to enable each official to verify the accuracy of the information provided on applications for voter registration.

(2) The Secretary of State and the Commissioner of the Division of Motor Vehicles shall enter into an agreement for the Division of Motor Vehicles to provide all name fields, residence and mailing address fields, driver's license or state identification number, last four digits of the Social Security number, date of birth, license or identification issuance and expiration dates, and current record status of individuals eligible to register to vote to the Secretary of State for the purpose of voter registration list maintenance comparison through an interstate data-sharing agreement designated by the Secretary of State as permitted by subdivision (2), subsection (e) of this section.

(h) The Commissioner of the Division of Motor Vehicles shall enter into an agreement with the Commissioner of Social Security under 42 U. S. C. §401, et seq ., the Social Security Act. All fees associated with this agreement shall be paid for from moneys in the fund created under section twelve of this article.

History

Amended by 2016 Acts, ch. 97 ( SB 591 ) , eff. 3/11/2016 .

Amended by 2013 Acts, ch. 68 ( SB 535 ) , eff. 7/12/2013 .

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