ENROLLED
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
Senate Bill No. 496
(Senators Kessler, Oliverio, White, McKenzie and Plymale, original
sponsors)
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[Passed March 4, 2008; in effect from passage.]
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AN ACT to amend and reenact §3-2-30 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to protecting certain information
maintained in voter registration files.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §3-2-30 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 2. REGISTRATION OF VOTERS.
§3-2-30. Public inspection of voter registration records in the
office of the clerk of the county commission; providing
voter lists for noncommercial use; prohibition against
resale of voter lists for commercial use or profit.
(a) Any person may examine the active, inactive, rejected and
canceled voter registration records during office hours of the
clerk of the county commission in accordance with the provisions of
chapter twenty-nine-b of this code as follows:
(1) When the active and inactive files are maintained on
precinct registration books, any person may examine the files under
the supervision of the clerk and obtain copies of records except when a precinct book is in temporary use for updating and preparing
lists or during the time the books are sealed for use in an
election. Other original voter registration records, including
canceled voter records, pending applications, rejected
applications, records of change requests, reinstatements and other
documents, shall be available for inspection upon specific request;
and
(2) When the active, inactive, rejected and canceled voter
files are maintained in data format, any person may examine voter
record information in printed form or in a read-only data format on
a computer terminal set aside for public use, if available. The
data files available for examination and copying shall include all
registration and voting information maintained in the file, but may
not include the registrant's telephone number, social security
number or driver's license number or nonoperator's identification
number issued by the Division of Motor Vehicles.
(b) Printed lists of registered voters may be purchased for
noncommercial use from the clerk of the county commission at a cost
of one cent per name.
(c) In counties maintaining active and inactive files in
digitized data format, the clerk of the county commission shall,
upon request, prepare printed copies of the lists of voters for
each precinct. No list prepared under this section may include the
registrant's telephone number, social security number or driver's
license number or nonoperator's identification number issued by the
Division of Motor Vehicles. The clerk shall establish a written
policy, posted within public view, listing the options for
selection and sorting criteria and available data elements. The data elements shall include, at least:
(1) The name, residence address, political party affiliation
and status of the registrant;
(2) The available formats of the lists; and
(3) The times at which lists will be prepared. A copy of the
county policy shall be filed with the Secretary of State no later
than the first day of January of each even-numbered year.
(d) In counties which maintain voter files in a digitized data
format, lists of registered voters may be obtained for
noncommercial purposes in data format on disk provided and prepared
by the clerk of the county commission at a cost of one cent per
name plus ten dollars for each disk required. No data file
prepared under this subsection may include the registrant's
telephone number, social security number or driver's license number
or nonoperator's identification number issued by the Division of
Motor Vehicles.
(e) The fees received by the clerk of the county commission
shall be kept in a separate fund under the supervision of the clerk
for the purpose of defraying the cost of the preparation of the
voter lists. Any unexpended balance in the fund shall be
transferred to the general fund of the county commission.
(f) The Secretary of State may make voter lists available for
sale subject to the limitations as provided in this section for
counties. The cost for a partial list shall be one and one-half
cents per name plus ten dollars for each disk required; the cost
for a complete statewide list shall be one-half cent per name and
a flat fee of one thousand dollars. One cent per name for each
voter from a particular county on each partial list and one-half cent per name for each voter from a particular county on each
statewide list sold shall be reimbursed to the appropriate county.
The disk fee and one-half cent per name associated with a partial
list and the flat fee of one thousand dollars associated with a
complete statewide list shall be deposited to a special revenue
account for purpose of defraying the cost of preparing the lists.
(g) An update to a previously purchased list may be provided
by the Secretary of State or the clerk of the county commission at
a prorated cost based on the amount of additional information
provided. The additional rates charged by the clerk of the county
commission shall be specified in the policy established pursuant to
subsection (c) of this section.
(h) No voter registration lists or data files containing voter
names, addresses or other information derived from voter data files
obtained pursuant to the provisions of this article may be used for
commercial or charitable solicitations or advertising, sold or
reproduced for resale.