SB0250 EngrossedLRB099 02958 MGM 22966 b

1    AN ACT concerning elections.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 5. The Election Code is amended by changing
5Sections 1A-16.6 and 1A-16.8 as follows:
 
6    (10 ILCS 5/1A-16.6)
7    Sec. 1A-16.6. Government agency voter registration.
8    (a) The By April 1, 2016, the State Board of Elections
9shall establish and maintain a portal for automatic government
10agency registration that permits an eligible person to
11electronically apply to register to vote or to update his or
12her existing voter registration whenever he or she conducts
13business, either online or in person, with a designated
14government agency. The portal shall interface with the online
15voter registration system established in Section 1A-16.5 of
16this Code and shall be capable of receiving and processing
17voter registration application information, including
18electronic signatures, from a designated government agency.
19The State Board of Elections shall modify the online voter
20registration system as necessary to implement this Section.
21    Voter registration data received from a designated
22government agency through the online registration application
23system shall be processed as provided for in Section 1A-16.5 of

 

 

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1this Code.
2    Whenever the registration interface is accessible to the
3general public, including, but not limited to, online
4transactions, the interface shall allow the applicant to
5complete the process as provided for in Section 1A-16.5 of this
6Code. The online interface shall be capable of providing the
7applicant with the applicant's voter registration status with
8the State Board of Elections and, if registered, the
9applicant's current registration address. The applicant shall
10not be required to re-enter any registration data, such as
11name, address, and birth date, if the designated government
12agency already has that information on file. The applicant
13shall be informed that by choosing to register to vote or to
14update his or her existing voter registration, the applicant
15consents to the transfer of the applicant's personal
16information to the State Board of Elections.
17    (a-5) Whenever an employee of a designated government
18agency serves a member of the public a government employee is
19accessing the registration system while servicing the
20applicant, the agency shall inform the individual in writing of
21the qualifications to register to vote in Illinois and of the
22penalties provided by law for submission of a false voter
23registration application and shall provide an opportunity to
24attest to meeting those qualifications under penalty of
25perjury. The agency shall notify the individual that his or her
26personal information shall be transferred to the State Board of

 

 

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1Elections for the purpose of creating an electronic voter
2registration application, and that the individual will only be
3registered to vote if he or she meets the qualifications to
4register to vote in Illinois. The agency shall not require the
5individual to provide duplicate information, including, but
6not limited to, any information he or she has already provided
7as part of the underlying service transaction, except for a
8signature. The agency shall inform the individual in writing
9that declining to transfer his or her personal information for
10voter registration purposes is confidential and will not affect
11any services the individual may be seeking from the agency. The
12individual shall not be required to disclose the reason for
13declining, including his or her citizenship status. After each
14transaction, the agency shall electronically transfer to the
15State Board of Elections personal information relevant to voter
16registration, including all records of documents relating to
17identity, address, and citizenship, for every applicant,
18regardless of whether or not the individual executed an
19attestation. The State Board of Elections shall electronically
20transfer to the appropriate election authority all voter
21registration information required for each voter registration
22application it creates government employee shall notify the
23applicant of the applicant's registration status with the State
24Board of Elections and, if registered, the applicant's current
25registration address. If the applicant elects to register to
26vote or to update his or her existing voter registration, the

 

 

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1government employee shall collect the needed information and
2assist the applicant with his or her registration. The
3applicant shall be informed that by choosing to register to
4vote or to update his or her existing voter registration, the
5applicant consents to the transfer of the applicant's personal
6information to the State Board of Elections.
7    (a-10) Upon receipt of personal information collected and
8transferred by a designated government agency, the State Board
9of Elections shall check the information against the statewide
10voter registration database. The State Board of Elections shall
11create and electronically transmit to the appropriate election
12authority a voter registration application for all individuals
13who are not registered to vote in Illinois and are not
14disqualified as provided in subsection (a-15) of this Section
15or whose information reliably indicates a more recent update to
16the name or address of a person already included in the
17statewide voter database, regardless of whether they provided
18an attestation during the agency transaction. The election
19authority shall process the application accordingly. If an
20individual did not provide an attestation during the agency
21transaction, the election authority shall not treat the
22application as complete or add the individual to the voter
23registration list until the expiration of a period of time
24established by rule for declining registration.
25    (a-15) If the State Board of Elections determines that
26personal information collected and transferred by the

 

 

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1designated government agency includes a green card or other
2legal proof that the person is not a United States citizen,
3then the State Board of Elections shall not create a voter
4registration application and shall notify the person of the
5reason his or her voter registration application is incomplete.
6    (a-20) Unless the application is incomplete pursuant to
7subsection (a-15), the State Board of Elections shall create
8and electronically transmit to the appropriate election
9authority a voter registration application for any individual
10who has attested to meeting voter registration applications. If
11the personal information collected and transferred by the
12designated government agency does not make it clear whether or
13not a person is qualified to register to vote in Illinois, the
14person's attestation that he or she is so qualified shall be
15deemed sufficient evidence of meeting qualifications to
16register to vote and the election authority shall process the
17application accordingly.
18    (a-25) The appropriate election authority shall ensure
19that any applicant who is registered to vote or whose existing
20voter registration is updated under this Section is promptly
21sent written notice of the change. The notice may be sent by
22electronic mail if the applicant has provided an electronic
23mail address on the voter registration form. The notice
24required by this subsection (a-25) may be sent or combined with
25other notices required or permitted by law, including, but not
26limited to, any notices sent pursuant to Section 1A-16.5 of

 

 

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1this Code. Any notice required by this subsection (a-25) shall
2contain, at a minimum:
3        (1) the applicant's name, date of birth, and
4    residential address as reflected on the voter registration
5    list;
6        (2) a statement that the applicant will be registered
7    to vote or will have his or her voter registration updated
8    unless he or she declines registration within a period of
9    time established by rule;
10        (3) a statement of the qualifications to be a voter;
11        (4) a statement that it is illegal for a person who is
12    not qualified to be a voter to vote in an election, which
13    shall be printed in larger text than the rest of the
14    notice;
15        (5) a statement notifying the applicant to contact the
16    appropriate election authority if he or she does not meet
17    the qualifications to be a voter and stating that the
18    applicant does not have to provide a reason he or she is
19    not qualified to vote or disclose citizenship status;
20        (6) a statement notifying the applicant to contact the
21    appropriate election authority if his or her voter
22    registration has been updated in error;
23        (7) a statement notifying the applicant that he or she
24    may opt out of voter registration, or request a change to
25    registration information, at any time by contacting an
26    election official;

 

 

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1        (8) a prepaid postcard allowing the applicant to opt
2    out of voter registration or update his or her voter
3    registration information, or directions for opting out of
4    voter registration or updating voter registration
5    information online;
6        (9) contact information for the appropriate election
7    authority, including a phone number, address, electronic
8    mail address, and website address;
9        (10) a statement notifying the applicant that some
10    personal information related to voter registration may be
11    subject to public disclosure for purposes related to the
12    electoral process unless protected under an address
13    confidentiality program; and
14        (11) any other information necessary to fulfill the
15    obligations of this Section or local, State, or federal
16    law.
17    (a-30) The appropriate election authority shall ensure
18that any applicant whose voter registration application is not
19accepted or deemed incomplete is promptly sent written notice
20of the application's status. The notice may be sent by
21electronic mail if the applicant has provided an electronic
22mail address on the voter registration form. The notice
23required by this subsection (a-30) may be sent or combined with
24other notices required or permitted by law, including, but not
25limited to, any notices sent pursuant to Section 1A-16.5 of
26this Code. Any notice required by this subsection (a-30) shall

 

 

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1contain, at a minimum, the reason the application was not
2accepted or deemed incomplete and contact information for the
3appropriate election authority including a phone number,
4address, electronic mail address, and website address.
5    (a-35) If a designated government agency transfers
6information, or if the State Board of Elections creates and
7transmits a voter registration application, for a person who
8does not qualify as an eligible voter, it shall not constitute
9a completed voter registration form, and the person shall not
10be considered to have registered to vote. If the registration
11is processed by any election authority, it shall be presumed to
12have been effected and officially authorized by the State and
13that person shall not be found on that basis to have made a
14false claim to citizenship or to have committed an act of moral
15turpitude, nor shall that person be subject to penalty under
16any relevant laws, including, but not limited to, Sections
1729-10 and 29-19 of this Code. This subsection (a-35) does not
18apply to any person who knows that he or she is ineligible to
19register to vote but who knowingly and willfully registers to
20vote or attests under penalty of perjury that he or she is
21eligible to register to vote.
22    (a-40) No employee of a designated government agency shall
23transmit to the State Board of Elections personal information
24for any person who applies for or is issued a temporary
25visitor's driver's license pursuant to Section 6-105.1 of the
26Illinois Vehicle Code.

 

 

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1    (a-45) In the event that the registration of a voter is
2changed from one address to another within the State and the
3voter appears at the polls and offers to vote from the prior
4registration address, attesting that the prior registration
5address is the true current address, the voter, if confirmed by
6the election authority as having been registered at the prior
7registration address and canceled only by the process
8authorized by this Section, shall be issued a regular ballot,
9and the change of registration address shall be canceled. If
10the election authority is unable to immediately confirm the
11registration, the voter shall be permitted to register and vote
12a regular ballot, provided that he or she meets the documentary
13requirements for same-day registration. If the election
14authority is unable to confirm the registration and the voter
15does not meet the requirements for same-day registration, the
16voter shall be issued a provisional ballot and the provisional
17ballot shall be counted as provided for under Article 18A of
18this Code. No voter shall be disqualified from voting due to an
19error relating to an update of registration made under this
20Section.
21    (a-50) In accordance with technical specifications
22provided by the State Board of Elections, each designated
23government agency shall maintain a data transfer mechanism
24capable of transmitting voter registration application
25information, including electronic signatures where available,
26to the online voter registration system established in Section

 

 

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11A-16.5 of this Code. Each designated government agency shall
2establish and operate a voter registration system capable of
3transmitting voter registration application information to the
4portal as described in this Section by July 1, 2016.
5    (b) Whenever an applicant's data is transferred from a
6designated government agency, the agency must transmit a
7signature image if available. If no signature image was
8provided by the agency or if no signature image is available in
9the Secretary of State's database or the statewide voter
10registration database, the applicant must be notified that
11their registration will remain in a pending status and the
12applicant will be required to provide identification and a
13signature to the election authority on Election Day in the
14polling place or during early voting.
15    (b-5) The State Board of Elections and designated
16government agencies shall implement policies and procedures to
17protect the privacy and security of voter information as it is
18acquired, stored, and transmitted among agencies, including
19policies for the retention and preservation of voter
20information. Information designated as confidential under this
21Section may be recorded and shared among the State Board of
22Elections, election authorities, and designated government
23agencies, but shall be used only for voter registration
24purposes, shall not be disclosed to the public except in the
25aggregate as required by subsection (d) of this Section, and
26shall not be subject to the Freedom of Information Act. The

 

 

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1following information shall be designated as confidential: any
2portion of an applicant's Social Security number, any portion
3of an applicant's motor vehicle driver's license number or
4State identification number, an applicant's decision to
5decline voter registration, the identity of the designated
6government agency providing information relating to a specific
7applicant, and the personal residence and contact information
8of any applicant for whom local, State, or federal law requires
9confidentiality, including, but not limited to, a victim of
10domestic violence pursuant to the Address Confidentiality for
11Victims of Domestic Violence Act or a victim of stalking
12pursuant to the Stalking No Contact Order Act. This subsection
13(b-5) shall not apply to information the State Board of
14Elections is required to share with the Electronic Registration
15Information Center.
16    (c) The voter registration procedures implemented under
17this Section shall comport with the federal National Voter
18Registration Act of 1993, as amended, and shall specifically
19require that the The State Board of Elections shall track
20registration data received through the online registration
21system that originated from a designated government agency for
22the purposes of maintaining statistics required by the federal
23National Voter Registration Act of 1993, as amended.
24    (c-5) No later than September 1, 2016, designated
25government agencies under this Section shall transfer all
26personal information contained in relevant agency databases

 

 

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1and collected since September 1, 2015 to the State Board of
2Elections for cross-reference against the statewide voter
3registration database. The State Board of Elections shall
4create voter registration applications for all persons who are
5not registered to vote in Illinois and are not disqualified as
6provided in subsection (a-15) of this Section or whose records
7indicate a more recent update to an existing voter
8registration, and shall transmit these voter registration
9applications to the appropriate election authorities for
10processing and registration.
11    (d) The State Board of Elections shall submit an annual
12public a report to the General Assembly and the Governor by
13December 1, 2015 detailing the progress made to implement the
14government agency voter registration portal described in this
15Section. The report shall include all of the following: the
16number of records transferred under this Section by agency, the
17number of voters newly added to the statewide voter
18registration list because of records transferred under this
19Section by agency, the number of updated registrations under
20this Section by agency, the number of persons who opted out of
21voter registration, and the number of voters who submitted
22voter registration forms using the online procedure described
23in Section 1A-16.5 of this Code. Any report produced under this
24subsection (d) shall exclude any information that identifies
25any individual personally.
26    (d-5) The State Board of Elections, each election authority

 

 

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1that maintains a website, and each designated government agency
2that maintains a website shall provide information on their
3websites informing the public about the new registration
4procedures described in this Section. Each designated
5government agency shall display signage or provide literature
6for the public containing information about the new
7registration procedures described in this Section.
8    (d-10) No later than January 1, 2017, the State Board of
9Elections shall hold at least one public hearing on
10implementing this amendatory Act of the 99th General Assembly
11at which the public may provide input.
12    (e) The State Board of Elections, in consultation with
13election authorities, the Secretary of State, designated
14government agencies, and community organizations, shall adopt
15rules as necessary to implement the provisions of this Section
16, in consultation with the impacted agencies.
17    (e-5) Subsection (c-5) of this Section shall be implemented
18no later than September 1, 2016. Subsections (a-5) through
19(a-45) and subsection (b-5) of this Section shall be
20implemented no later than July 1, 2017 for all designated
21government agencies maintained by the Secretary of State and no
22later than January 1, 2018 for all other designated government
23agencies.
24    (f) As used in this Section, a "designated government
25agency" means the Secretary of State's Driver Services and
26Vehicle Services Departments, the Department of Human

 

 

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1Services, the Department of Healthcare and Family Services, the
2Department of Employment Security, and the Department on Aging,
3any federal source that agrees to submit personal
4identification information to the State for voter registration
5purposes, and any other reliable State government source the
6State Board of Elections may designate.
7(Source: P.A. 98-1171, eff. 6-1-15.)
 
8    (10 ILCS 5/1A-16.8)
9    Sec. 1A-16.8. Automatic transfer of registration based
10upon information from the National Change of Address database
11and designated government agencies, as defined in Section
121A-16.6 of this Code. The State Board of Elections shall
13cross-reference the statewide voter registration database
14against the United States Postal Service's National Change of
15Address database twice each calendar year, April 15 and October
161 in odd-numbered years and April 15 and December 1 in
17even-numbered years, and shall share the findings with the
18election authorities. In addition, beginning no later than
19September 1, 2016, the State Board of Elections shall utilize
20data provided as part of its membership in the Electronic
21Registration Information Center in order to cross-reference
22the statewide voter registration database against databases of
23relevant personal information kept by designated government
24agencies, including, but not limited to, driver's license
25information kept by the Secretary of State, at least 6 times

 

 

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1each calendar year and shall share the findings with election
2authorities. An election authority shall automatically
3register any voter who has moved into its jurisdiction from
4another jurisdiction in Illinois or has moved within its
5jurisdiction provided that:
6        (1) the election authority whose jurisdiction includes
7    the new registration address provides the voter an
8    opportunity to reject the change in registration address
9    through a mailing, sent by non-forwardable mail, to the new
10    registration address, and
11        (2) when the election authority whose jurisdiction
12    includes the previous registration address is a different
13    election authority, then that election authority provides
14    the same opportunity through a mailing, sent by forwardable
15    mail, to the previous registration address.
16    This change in registration shall trigger the same
17inter-jurisdictional or intra-jurisdictional workflows as if
18the voter completed a new registration card, including the
19cancellation of the voter's previous registration. Should the
20registration of a voter be changed from one address to another
21within the State and should the voter appear at the polls and
22offer to vote from the prior registration address, attesting
23that the prior registration address is the true current
24address, the voter, if confirmed by the election authority as
25having been registered at the prior registration address and
26canceled only by the process authorized by this Section, shall

 

 

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1be issued a regular ballot, and the change of registration
2address shall be canceled. If the election authority is unable
3to immediately confirm the registration, the voter shall be
4permitted to register and vote a regular ballot, provided that
5he or she meets the documentary requirements for same-day
6registration. If the election authority is unable to confirm
7the registration and the voter does not meet the requirements
8for same-day registration, the voter shall be issued a
9provisional ballot and the provisional ballot shall be counted
10as provided under Article 18A of this Code. No voter shall be
11disqualified from voting due to an error relating to an update
12of registration under this Section.
13(Source: P.A. 98-1171, eff. 6-1-15.)
 
14    Section 10. The Illinois Vehicle Code is amended by
15changing Section 2-105 as follows:
 
16    (625 ILCS 5/2-105)  (from Ch. 95 1/2, par. 2-105)
17    Sec. 2-105. Offices of Secretary of State.
18    (a) The Secretary of State shall maintain offices in the
19State capital and in such other places in the State as he may
20deem necessary to properly carry out the powers and duties
21vested in him.
22    (b) The Secretary of State may construct and equip one or
23more buildings in the State of Illinois outside of the County
24of Sangamon as he deems necessary to properly carry out the

 

 

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1powers and duties vested in him. The Secretary of State may, on
2behalf of the State of Illinois, acquire public or private
3property needed therefor by lease, purchase or eminent domain.
4The care, custody and control of such sites and buildings
5constructed thereon shall be vested in the Secretary of State.
6Expenditures for the construction and equipping of any of such
7buildings upon premises owned by another public entity shall
8not be subject to the provisions of any State law requiring
9that the State be vested with absolute fee title to the
10premises. The exercise of the authority vested in the Secretary
11of State by this Section is subject to the appropriation of the
12necessary funds.
13    (c) Pursuant to Sections 1A-16.6 and Section 1A-25 of the
14Election Code, the Secretary of State shall make driver
15services facilities available for use as places of accepting
16applications for voter registration.
17    (d) (Blank).
18    (e) Each person applying at a driver services facility for
19a driver's license or permit, a corrected driver's license or
20permit, an Illinois identification card or a corrected Illinois
21identification card shall be notified, under the procedures set
22forth in Section 1A-16.6 of the Election Code, that unless he
23or she opts out that the person shall be registered may apply
24to register to vote, and if his or her address has changed, his
25or her voter registration information shall be updated to the
26new address within this State at such station and may also

 

 

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1apply to transfer his or her voter registration at such station
2to a different address in the State. Such notification may be
3made in writing or verbally issued by an employee or the
4Secretary of State.
5    The Secretary of State shall promulgate such rules as may
6be necessary for the efficient execution of his duties and the
7duties of his employees under this Section.
8    (f) Any person applying at a driver services facility for
9issuance or renewal of a driver's license or Illinois
10Identification Card shall be provided, without charge, with a
11brochure warning the person of the dangers of financial
12identity theft. The Department of Financial and Professional
13Regulation shall prepare these brochures and provide them to
14the Secretary of State for distribution. The brochures shall
15(i) identify signs warning the reader that he or she might be
16an intended victim of the crime of financial identity theft,
17(ii) instruct the reader in how to proceed if the reader
18believes that he or she is the victim of the crime of identity
19theft, and (iii) provide the reader with names and telephone
20numbers of law enforcement and other governmental agencies that
21provide assistance to victims of financial identity theft.
22(Source: P.A. 97-81, eff. 7-5-11.)
 
23    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
24becoming law.