HBA- CMT H.B. 3181 77(R) BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 3181 By: Danburg Elections 7/10/2001 Enrolled BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Prior to the 77th Legislature, the institutional division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice was required to prepare an abstract of felony convictions of persons 18 years of age or older each month, and deliver that abstract to the person's county registrar. The registrar of the county was required to deliver to the secretary of state on or after the first day but before the 16th day of January, March, June, September, and December of each year a list containing each new registration, canceled registration, and change in registration information that had occurred in the county since the delivery of the previous list. The previous procedure could be slow and may not have allowed for the master record with the secretary of state to be as up to date as it could have been. House Bill 3181 provides for improvement of the current procedures for maintaining the voter registration master rolls in the state and requires the secretary of state to study the feasibility of allowing voters to correct voter registration information by digital transmission. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that rulemaking authority is expressly delegated to the secretary of state in SECTION 1 (Section 15.021, Election Code) of this bill. ANALYSIS House Bill 3181 amends the Election Code to require the secretary of state, in conjunction with the Department of Information Resources, to conduct a study to determine the feasibility of allowing voters to correct voter registration information by digital transmission of the corrected information to the registrar. If the study determines that digital transmission of corrected information is feasible, the bill authorizes submission of the corrected information without the submission of a written, signed notice of incorrect information and the corresponding correction and without submission of a registration certificate or registration application form. The bill authorizes the secretary of state to adopt rules to approve technologies for submitting changes of registration information by digital transmission and to prescribe additional procedures as necessary to implement a system for the digital transmission of changes in registration information if it is determined feasible to correct voter registration information by digital transfer. H.B. 3181 requires the Department of Public Safety (DPS) to prepare each week, on a day specified by the secretary of state, an abstract of each final judgment received by DPS convicting a person who is 18 years of age or older and a resident of this state of a felony, and to file each abstract with the secretary of state no later than one week following the week in which the abstract is prepared. The secretary of state is required to file each received abstract with the voter registrar of the person's county of residence no later than one week following the week in which the abstract was received. Once each week, on a day specified by the secretary of state, each county registrar is required to deliver to the secretary of state a list containing each new registration, canceled registration, and change of registration information that has occurred in the county since the delivery of the previous list if that county registrar has not contracted with the secretary for electronic registration data services. The secretary of state is required to use the information to identify any voters in the state master file that may be duplicated, deceased, or ineligible because of a felony conviction. The secretary of state is required to notify the registrar of the appropriate county of any voter included in the master file that may be duplicated, deceased, or ineligible because of a felony conviction. The bill requires the secretary of state to prescribe procedures as necessary to implement these provisions. The bill authorizes state funds to be disbursed for the financing of voter registration only to defray expenses of the registrar's office in connection with voter registration, including additional expenses related to complying with the weekly updating requirements. Any funds authorized for financing voter registration that lapse to the state after the expiration of the two-year period in which they are authorized to be used are required to be placed in a special fund administered by the secretary of state. The secretary of state is required to issue money from this fund to counties with limited technological resources to upgrade voter registration technology. The bill requires the secretary of state to prescribe procedures to implement these provisions. H.B. 3181 requires that once each week, on a day specified by the secretary of state, DPS is to electronically transfer to the secretary of state the name of each person who completes a voter registration application submitted to DPS. The secretary of state is required to prescribe procedures to implement the electronic transfer. The secretary of state is also required to inform the appropriate voter registrar of the name of each person who completes a voter registration application submitted to DPS no later than the seventh day after the secretary of state receives the information. The registrar is authorized to verify that the registrar has received each application as indicated by the information provided by the secretary of state. H.B. 3181 amends the Government Code to provide that the provisions for surplus and salvage property do not apply to the disposition of surplus computer equipment by the secretary of state. The bill requires the secretary of state to give preference to transferring the property to counties for the purpose of improving voter registration technology and complying with weekly voter registration updating requirements. EFFECTIVE DATE January 1, 2002.