It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:

SECTION 1. Section 17-9.1-27 of the General Laws in Chapter 17-9.1 entitled "Registration of Voters" is hereby amended to read as follows:

17-9.1-27. Periodic updating of voter registration records -- Beginning in January 1997, and in January of each fourth year thereafter, In every odd-numbered year, the secretary of state shall update the central voter register using the United States Postal Service National Change of Address (NCOA) Program; provided, .The office of the Secretary of State shall be responsible for obtaining the NCOA data and providing each local board of canvassers with their data; provided, however, that the secretary of state may direct that the updating shall be performed by each local board. The NCOA list of address changes shall be compared by the local board with lists of registered voters and if address changes are detected for any voter, the local board shall institute the confirmation process described in section 17-9.1-26.

SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage.