2012 -- S 2673

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LC01978

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STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2012

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A N A C T

RELATING TO ELECTIONS - REGISTRATION OF VOTERS

     Introduced By: Senator P Fogarty

     Date Introduced: March 01, 2012

     Referred To: Senate Judiciary

It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:

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     SECTION 1. Section 17-9.1-25 of the General Laws in Chapter 17-9.1 entitled

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"Registration of Voters" is hereby amended to read as follows:

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     17-9.1-25. Acknowledgement of registration or change of address -- Verification of

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residence. -- (a) The local board of each city or town shall mail an acknowledgement notice to

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each newly registered voter and to each voter who changes his or her voting residence within

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seven (7) days after receipt of the registration or change of residence. The acknowledgement

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notice shall notify the applicant for registration of the disposition of the application, i.e., whether

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the application is deemed accepted or denied. If denied, the reason for the denial shall be

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indicated on the notice. The acknowledgement notice shall be mailed to the applicant at the

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address from which he or she registered and shall be clearly marked: "Do Not Forward -- Return

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If Undeliverable". Provided, however, that the New Shoreham Board of Canvassers may address

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the acknowledgement notice, and any other notice that may be required by this chapter, to the

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person's post office box if said post office box is located within the confines of New Shoreham.

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Provided, further that in any other city or town in which some postal customers are not eligible to

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receive home mail delivery from the United States postal service, and the respective streets and

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street ranges are certified as such to the secretary of state, the city or town shall address the

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acknowledgment card and any other notice that may be required by this chapter to the United

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States postal service post office box at which the voter receives mail.

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     (b) The acknowledgement form shall be a postal card of a size and other specifications

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that shall be determined by the state board and shall be substantially in the following form;

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provided, that the wording of the form may be revised and updated from time to time by the state

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board in a manner to make its content as easily readable and understandable as possible:

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     Front Side

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     Board of Canvassers Affix

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     Address of Board of Canvassers Postage

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     for the city or town in which registered

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     ADDRESS CORRECTION REQUESTED RETURN POSTAGE GUARANTEED DO

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NOT FORWARD

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     Voter's Name

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     Voter's Address

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______________________________________________________________________________

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Reverse Side

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______________________________________________________________________________

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Your application to register to vote has been received and accepted. The following is information

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concerning your voting districts.

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     Your U.S. Representative District is _________________________________________

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     Your State Senate District is ________________________________________________

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     Your Representative District is ______________________________________________

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     Your Council District is _________________________________________________

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     Your Ward District is __________________________________________________

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     Your Voting District is ____________________________________________________

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      Locations of polling places for these districts may be obtained from newspaper

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advertisements preceding each election or by calling your local board. Your application to

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register to vote has been received incomplete. Please contact our office at the telephone number

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or address listed below. Your application to register to vote has been rejected because

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______________________________________________________________________________

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______________________________________________________________________________

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If this card is addressed to a person who does not live at this address, please ask your mail carrier

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to return it to the sender.

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     Board of Canvassers

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     Address

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     Telephone Number

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      (c) The form may also contain any other information that may be required by the state

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board.

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      (d) Those notices that are returned as undeliverable to the local board shall be reviewed

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to verify that the address was correctly printed on the notice. All notices returned as undeliverable

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shall be attached to the registration notices and maintained as a record of the local board.

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     (e) Any voter whose application to register to vote has been accepted, but whose

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acknowledgement notice has been returned by postal authorities as undeliverable, shall be placed

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on an inactive list of voters and shall not be permitted to vote unless an affirmation form is

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completed. The local board shall be required, upon receipt of the undeliverable acknowledgement

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notice, to commence the confirmation process described in section 17-9.1-26.

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     SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage.

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LC01978

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EXPLANATION

BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL

OF

A N A C T

RELATING TO ELECTIONS - REGISTRATION OF VOTERS

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     This act would provide for the use of post office boxes for purposes of acknowledgement

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of registration or change of address and verification of residence in those cases where the

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prospective voter does not receive home mail delivery.

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     This act would take effect upon passage.

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LC01978

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