CHAPTER 42 SENATE BILL No. 63 An Act concerning elections; relating to the registration of voters; amending K.S.A. 25-2309 and 25-2320 and repealing the existing sections. Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Kansas:

      Section  1. K.S.A. 25-2309 is hereby amended to read as follows: 25-
2309. (a) Any person may apply in person, by mail, through a voter reg-
istration agency, or by other delivery to a county election officer to be
registered. Such application shall be made on: (1) A form approved by
the secretary of state, which shall be provided by a county election officer
or chief state election official upon request in person, by telephone or in
writing; or (2) the mail voter registration application prescribed by the
federal election commission. Such application shall be signed by the ap-
plicant under penalty of perjury and shall contain the original signature
of the applicant or the computerized, electronic or digitized transmitted
signature of the applicant.

      (b) Applications made under this section shall give voter eligibility
requirements and such information as is necessary to identify the appli-
cant and to determine the qualifications of the applicant as an elector and
the facts authorizing such person to be registered, including, but not
limited to, the following data:

      (1) Name;

      (2) place of residence, including specific address or location, and
mailing address if the residence address is not a permissible postal ad-
dress;

      (3) date of birth;

      (4) sex;

      (5) the last four digits of the person's social security number;

      (5) (6) telephone number, if available;

      (6) (7) naturalization data (if applicable);

      (7) (8) if applicant has previously registered or voted elsewhere, res-
idence at time of last registration or voting;

      (8) (9) when present residence established;

      (9) (10) name under which applicant last registered or voted, if dif-
ferent from present name;

      (10) (11) an attestation that the applicant meets each eligibility re-
quirement;

      (11) (12) a statement that the penalty for submission of a false voter
registration application is a maximum presumptive sentence of 17 months
in prison;

      (12) (13) a statement that, if an applicant declines to register to vote,
the fact that the applicant has declined to register will remain confidential
and will be used only for voter registration purposes;

      (13) (14) a statement that if an applicant does register to vote, the
office to which a voter registration application is submitted will remain
confidential and will be used only for voter registration purposes; and

      (14) (15) political party affiliation declaration, if any. An applicant's
failure to make a declaration will result in the applicant being registered
as an unaffiliated voter.

      If the application discloses any previous registration in any other county
or state, as indicated by paragraph (7) or (9) (8) or (10), or otherwise, the
county election officer shall upon the registration of the applicant, give
notice to the election official of the place of former registration, notifying
such official of applicant's present residence and registration, and au-
thorizing cancellation of such former registration.

      (c) Any person who applies for registration through a voter registra-
tion agency shall be provided with, in addition to the application under
subsection (b), a form which includes:

      (1) The question ``If you are not registered to vote where you live
now, would you like to apply to register to vote here today?'';

      (2) a statement that if the applicant declines to register to vote, this
decision will remain confidential and be used only for voter registration
purposes;

      (3) a statement that if the applicant does register to vote, information
regarding the office to which the application was submitted will remain
confidential and be used only for voter registration purposes; and

      (4) if the agency provides public assistance, (i) the statement ``Apply-
ing to register or declining to register to vote will not affect the amount
of assistance that you will be provided by this agency.'';

      (ii) boxes for the applicant to check to indicate whether the applicant
would like to register or declines to register to vote, together with the
statement ``IF YOU DO NOT CHECK EITHER BOX, YOU WILL BE
CONSIDERED TO HAVE DECIDED NOT TO REGISTER TO
VOTE AT THIS TIME.'';

      (iii) the statement ``If you would like help in filling out the voter
registration application form, we will help you. The decision whether to
seek or accept help is yours. You may fill out the application form in
private.''; and

      (iv) the statement ``If you believe that someone has interfered with
your right to register or to decline to register to vote, your right to privacy
in deciding whether to register or in applying to register to vote, or your
right to choose your own political party or other political preference, you
may file a complaint with the Kansas Secretary of State.''

      (d) If any person, in writing, declines to register to vote, the voter
registration agency shall maintain the form prescribed by subsection (c).

      (e) A voter registration agency shall transmit the completed registra-
tion application to the county election officer not later than five days after
the date of acceptance. Upon receipt of an application for registration,
the county election officer shall send, by nonforwardable mail, a notice
of disposition of the application to the applicant at the postal delivery
address shown on the application. If a notice of disposition is returned as
undeliverable, a confirmation mailing prescribed by K.S.A. 25-2316c, and
amendments thereto, shall occur.

      (f) If an application is received while registration is closed, such ap-
plication shall be considered to have been received on the next following
day during which registration is open.

      (g) A person who completes an application for voter registration shall
be considered a registered voter when the county election officer adds
the applicant's name to the county voter registration list.

      (h) Any registered voter whose residence address is not a permissible
postal delivery address shall designate a postal address for registration
records. When a county election officer has reason to believe that a voter's
registration residence is not a permissible postal delivery address, the
county election officer shall attempt to determine a proper mailing ad-
dress for the voter.

      (i) No application for voter registration shall be made available for
public inspection or copying unless the information required by para-
graph (5) of subsection (b) has been removed or otherwise rendered un-
readable.

      Sec.  2. K.S.A. 25-2320 is hereby amended to read as follows: 25-
2320. (a) The county election officer shall allow access to any person at
any time during regular business hours, under supervision of the county
election officer for the purpose of examining the voter registration books.
Any person may make a written request for a copy of the registration
books at any time except on any election day. The election officer is
hereby directed to provide one or more copies which are accurate insofar
as practicable of such books to the person so requesting. The election
officer shall provide such copies to the person within 10 days following
the request if so requested. The expense of making such copies shall be
paid by the person requesting them. The cost of copies shall be estab-
lished by the county election officer at a price which is not more than the
actual cost and shall be set uniformly in order that the price therefor shall
be the same for all persons requesting identical copies.

      (b) No voter registration record shall be made available for public
inspection or copying unless the individual's social security number, or
any part thereof, has been removed or otherwise been rendered unread-
able.

 Sec.  3. K.S.A. 25-2309 and 25-2320 are hereby repealed.
 Sec.  4. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after its
publication in the statute book.

Approved March 27, 2001.
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