BILL ANALYSIS

H.B. 2570

By: Miles

Elections

Committee Report (Unamended)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Concerned parties contend that voter registration compliance continues to be an obstacle for individuals who desire to participate in the voting process and assert that the voter registration rejection letter an applicant receives from the voter registrar is vague. Therefore, the parties contend, applicants do not understand the nature of the registration problem and are unable to reconcile the problem. The parties further note that when the applicant fills out another application, it may also be rejected because the applicant was unaware of the specific problem that needed to be resolved. To address this issue, H.B. 2570 seeks to require the voter registrar's office to provide specific information to a voter whose voter registration is rejected. 

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution.

ANALYSIS

H.B. 2570 amends the Election Code to require the voter registrar, in providing to an applicant a written or oral reason for rejection of a voter registration application, to identify which section or sections of the application resulted in the rejection and requires the registrar, for each section identified, to specify if the section was incomplete, was improperly filled out, or contained information identifying the applicant as ineligible to vote.

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2013.