Chapter 177
2008 -- S 2818
Enacted 07/02/08
A N A C T
RELATING
TO ELECTIONS
Introduced
By: Senators Pichardo, Gibbs, Connors, Sheehan, and Jabour
Date
Introduced: March 05, 2008
It is enacted by the General Assembly as
follows:
SECTION 1. Section
17-10-1 of the General Laws in Chapter 17-10 entitled "Canvassing
the Lists of Qualified Electors" is hereby
amended to read as follows:
17-10-1.
Maintenance of registration -- Inactive file. -- (a) The local board or
its duly
authorized agent shall maintain the files of
registration cards in a condition that will correctly
represent the registration of qualified voters
at all times. It shall continually purge the cards of
voters no longer qualified to vote in the city
or town. It shall promptly record all changes of
address, changes of name, and transfers and
cancellations of registration.
(b) If a
confirmation card has been mailed to a registered voter at an address outside
of
the city or town of the voter's current registered
address for voting purposes, or if the
confirmation card has been mailed to an address
within the same city or town where the voter is
registered, which card was sent to confirm the
voter's continuing residence within the city or town
and not merely to confirm information provided
by or through the postal service concerning a
change of address within the city or town, and
in both cases the voter has failed to respond to the
confirmation card, the voter shall be stricken from
the voting list and the voter registration shall
be canceled if the voter has not voted or
appeared to vote in an election during the period
beginning on the date of mailing of the
confirmation card and ending on the date after the date of
the second general election that occurs after
the date of mailing of the card. Provided, that the
registration of any person shall not be canceled
during his or her service in the armed forces of
the United States and during two (2) years
thereafter. A voter whose registration has been
canceled shall not thereafter be eligible to
vote unless that voter shall again register in accordance
with the provisions of this title and in
accordance with the provisions of the Constitution of this
state. The local board shall notify the
secretary of state of any cancellation. The local board shall
notify each voter whose registration has been
canceled by a notice addressed to the voter at the
voter's last known address, and a memorandum
that the notice has been sent shall be maintained
on file by the local board; provided, that
failure to give or receive the notice shall not affect the
cancellation of the voter's registration. The
local board shall take affirmative action to purge the
voter's name from its files of registration
cards.
(c) Using the
central voter registration system, upon receipt of the monthly list of
individuals who have died from the office of
vital statistics as prescribed by section 23-3-5, the
secretary of state shall identify all voter registrations
that may be reflected on the list and so
notify electronically, the local board of
canvassers of each applicable city or town. The local
board, upon receipt of the monthly list
of deceased persons from its respective local registrar of
vital records under the provision of section
23-3-7,
the secretary of state, or upon receipt of an
affidavit of death on forms prescribed by the
secretary of state,
shall promptly purge its files of
registration cards by deleting removing
the cards of each deceased elector and canceling the voter
registration information of the deceased elector
from the central voter registration system. The
local board shall immediately notify the
secretary of state of this action.
(d) The local
board shall maintain a separate list of all new registrations and all transfers
of registration which are received by the board
within the thirty (30) day period prior to the close
of registration prior to each primary, regular,
and special election. The list shall be maintained
until the time that the election is held.
SECTION 2.
Sections 23-3-5 and 23-3-7 of the General Laws in Chapter 23-3 entitled
"Vital Records" are hereby amended to
read as follows:
23-3-5.
Duties of state registrar of vital records. -- (a) The state registrar
of vital
records shall:
(1) Administer
and enforce this chapter and the rules and regulations issued under this
chapter, and issue instructions for the
efficient administration of the statewide system of vital
records.
(2) Direct and
supervise the statewide system of vital records and the division of vital
records and be custodian of its records.
(3) Direct,
supervise, and control the activities of local registrars and the activities of
town and city clerks related to the operation of
the vital records system.
(4) Prescribe,
with approval of the state director of health, and distribute any forms that
are required by this chapter and the rules and
regulations issued under this chapter.
(5) Prepare and
publish annual reports of vital records of this state and any other reports
that may be required by the state director of
health.
(6) Notify
Electronically transmit to the office of the secretary of state and
the
appropriate local canvassing authority of the
receipt of a death certificate , on a monthly basis, a
list of any reported deaths of a person or
persons
reporting the death of a person eighteen (18)
years of age or older, and maintain a
list of those deceased persons.
(7) Provide a
copy on alkaline paper or an electronic record of each certificate of birth,
death, and marriage to the city or town clerk
before the tenth (10th) day of the month after the
certificate is received by the division of vital
records as authorized by regulations.
(8) (i) Flag
birth certificates of missing children and perform all other acts and duties
required to be performed by him or her pursuant
to chapter 28.8 of title 42.
(ii) Upon receipt
of information pursuant to section 42-28.8-3, provide the local
registrars of the several cities and towns with
that information.
(9) Direct,
supervise, and control the transition from a paper-based system to an
electronic system.
(b) The state registrar
of vital records, with the approval of the director of health, may
appoint a deputy state registrar and may
delegate any functions and duties vested in him or her to
employees of the division of vital records and
to local registrars that he or she deems necessary or
expedient.
23-3-7.
Duties of local registrars. -- The local registrar, with respect to his
or her
respective city or town, shall:
(1) Administer
and enforce the provisions of this chapter and instructions, rules, and
regulations issued under this chapter.
(2) Require that
certificates be completed and filed in accordance with provisions of this
chapter and the rules and regulations issued
under this chapter.
(3) Transmit on
or before the tenth (10th) day of each month the certificates, reports, or
other returns filed with him or her for the
preceding month to the state registrar of vital records or
more frequently when directed to do so by the
state registrar of vital records.
(4) Maintain
records, make reports, and perform all other duties that may be required by
the state registrar of vital records.
(5) Transmit
on or before the tenth (10th) day of each month a list of the deaths filed
with him or her for the preceding month, to his
or her respective local board of canvassers.
(5) (6)
Flag birth certificates of missing children and perform all other acts and
duties
required to be performed pursuant to chapter
28.8 of title 42.
SECTION 3. This
act shall take effect upon passage.
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LC01697
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