Brief (1)
SB 127 amends the state election laws.
The bill changes the qualifications of petition circulators to require them to be a resident of the State of Kansas and have the qualifications of an elector in order to circulate petitions.
The bill also establishes a procedure for county election officers to remove from permanent advance voter lists the names of persons who become inactive voters. The bill allows the county election officer to remove the name of a person from the permanent advanced voting list if that person has not voted by advanced voting in two consecutive general elections. The voter would be required to renew the application for permanent advance voting status after being notified by the county election officer.
The bill allows a county election officer to remove, at the voter's written request, that person's residence address from the voter registration list if that person thinks there is a clear unwarranted invasion of personal privacy or a threat to the voter's safety occurs. The bill would not authorize the Secretary of State to include, on the voter registration application form, a space that would allow an applicant to request such applicant's residence address to be concealed from public inspection on the voter registration list.
The bill requires the Secretary of State to establish, in the centralized voter registration database, a list of active voters and a separate list of voters who have failed to vote at two consecutive state or national elections, or who have failed to respond to confirmation notices.
Finally, the bill allows county election officers to use lists of deceased persons available from the Social Security Administration to delete such persons' names from the voter registration database.
Background
SB 127 was requested by the Secretary of State's Office (SOS). A representative from the SOS testified that changing the qualifications of petition circulators would bring Kansas state election laws into compliance with a 1999 U.S. Supreme Court decision (Buckley v. American Constitutional Law Foundation). He also testified that concealment of a voter's address on registration lists would address the needs of law enforcement personnel, judges, and crime victims who have fear of reprisals from criminals.
The SOS Office requested the amendment that allows county election officers to use lists from the Social Security Administration to delete persons' names from the voter registration database.
The House Committee on Ethics and Elections amended the bill to require the Secretary of State to establish two separate lists of active and inactive voters. The Committee also amended the bill to prohibit the Secretary of State from providing a check-off space allowing the applicant to have such applicant's residence address concealed.
The House Committee of the Whole amendments were technical in nature.
1. *Supplemental notes are prepared by the Legislative Research Department and do not express legislative intent. The supplemental note and fiscal note for this bill may be accessed on the Internet at http://www.ink.org/public/legislative/fulltext.cgi