HB 1772-FN - AS INTRODUCED

2018 SESSION

18-2289

03/06

HOUSE BILL 1772-FN

AN ACT permitting online voting registration.

SPONSORS: Rep. W. Pearson, Ches. 16; Sen. Fuller Clark, Dist 21

COMMITTEE: Election Law

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ANALYSIS

This bill authorizes online voter registration.

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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.

Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]

Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.

18-2289

03/06

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Eighteen

AN ACT permitting online voting registration.

Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:

1 New Section; Online Voter Registration. Amend RSA 654 by inserting after section 7-c the following new section:

654:7-d Online Voter Registration. The secretary of state shall create and maintain a online portal allowing a person to complete a voter registration online. The secretary of state shall transmit the registration to the appropriate supervisors of the checklist. The online voter registration shall use the person's signature from the department of safety, division of motor vehicles, and the director of the division of motor vehicles shall make appropriate provisions to facilitate the electronic transfer of the image of the signature to the statewide centralized voter registration database. If the person's signature is not found using the online voter registration form, the person shall be so informed and given the option to print the voter registration form and mail or personally deliver the signed form to the supervisors of the checklist. The supervisors of the checklist shall certify the receipt of each completed voter registration form and shall notify the person of the disposition of the form. Nothing in this section shall be construed to change any registration deadline or qualification of voting.

2 Effective Date. This act shall take effect 60 days after its passage.

LBAO

18-2289

11/28/17

HB 1772-FN- FISCAL NOTE

AS INTRODUCED

AN ACT permitting online voting registration.

FISCAL IMPACT: [ X ] State [ ] County [ X ] Local [ ] None


	Estimated Increase / (Decrease)
STATE:	FY 2019	FY 2020	FY 2021	FY 2022
Appropriation	$0	$0	$0	$0
Revenue	$0	$0	$0	$0
Expenditures	Indeterminable Increase	Indeterminable Increase	Indeterminable Increase	Indeterminable Increase
Funding Source:	[ X ] General [ ] Education [ ] Highway [ X ] Other - HAVA Funds

LOCAL:
Revenue	$0	$0	$0	$0
Expenditures	Indeterminable	Indeterminable	Indeterminable	Indeterminable

METHODOLOGY:

The Department of State makes the following assumptions concerning the fiscal impact of this bill:

HAVA funds may be available depending on the timing of implementation unless it would render the Secretary of State less able to carry out HAVA requirements. If effective in 60 days as written, the Department assumes general funds would be needed for implementation. Use of HAVA funds would depend on the added benefit to the registration process, such as number of persons using online registration.
Information from the Division of Motor Vehicles could be many years old and not comprehensive regarding information for voter registration purposes.
Local supervisors of the checklist would still insist on evidence of domicile, citizenship, age and identity since the bill does not change current registration standards. The Department assumes follow up letters would need to be sent by towns and cities by e-mail, text or mail to voters who register on-line and fail to provide sufficient evidence of domicile, age, citizenship and identity. Voters would be able to respond via camera/smart phone, scanner and e-mail, fax, mail, at the clerk’s office or face-to-face on election day.
The bill only requires the Secretary of State to match the name and date of birth of the drivers’ license holder to confirm the individual has a license with the DMV. It is possible, but not anticipated, that verification of citizenship available at the DMV could be matched using on-line registration. Because the bill would establish on-line registration as the equivalent of absentee registration in law, no on-line registrants would be asked to sign a qualified voter affidavit necessitating a follow-up letter with an enclosed post card for the newly registered applicant to return.
60% of on-line applicants will require electronic communication for rejection and confirmation from the State and 40% will require mailed communication from the cities and towns.
The State’s ElectioNet system would need to be programmed to include a new ID number field linkable to a voter ID field for each new applicant.
The Department’s information technology staff would need to establish a secure environment to receive on-line applications from the public.
A functional interface for mobile devices would be created to permit submittals via smart phones or equivalent devices.
Due to the availability of election day registration and the difficulty of confirming domicile, age and citizenship from DMV data, usage of on-line registration would ramp up gradually.

Based on the assumptions, the Department has identified and estimated the following costs.

Costs Identified	FY 2018	FY 2019	FY 2020	FY 2021	FY 2022
Estimated number of on-line applicants and address changes.	-	2,000	12,000	5,000	12,000

Additional HAVA staff time to mail, track and cleanse data.	$0	$120,000	$50,000	$7,000	$60,000
Interface enabling transmission of photographed documents - Mobile Option.	$0	$50,000	$20,000	$10,000	$10,000
State Project Manager.	$40,000	$100,000	$0	$0	$0
Software Programming, Support and Maintenance.	$150,000	$140,000	$25,000	$25,000	$25,000
Secure Services, Other Equipment, Operating Systems, Secure Socket Layer Digital Signatures and Interfaces.	$0	$70,000	$10,000	$10,000	$10,000
On-line voter registration interface with ElectioNet system.	$60,000	$75,000	$15,000	$15,000	$15,000
HAVA/SOS Software Oversight, Specifications, Training and Testing	$0	$120,000	$40,000	$35,000	$30,000
Additional in-house SOS labor costs of vetting increased affidavits triggered by the bill.	$0	$7,200	$3,000	$7,200	$3,000
Total :	$250,000	$682,200	$163,000	$109,200	$153,000

In addition, the Department indicates there would be additional indeterminable costs for follow-up letters, costs for rejected mail and any charges from the Departments of Safety and Justice.

The Department of Safety indicates the Division of Motor Vehicles (DMV), the DMV VISION System vendor and the Department of Information Technology would need to work closely to provide the signature data electronically to the statewide centralized voter registration system. An electronic interface between the DMV and the Secretary of State would need to be created to transfer the images of signatures on file. The Department states the cost to create such an interface is indeterminable at this time.

The New Hampshire Municipal Association assumes enabling citizens to register online may reduce the number of citizens who register at the municipal clerk’s office, at sessions held by the supervisors of the checklist and at polls on election day. This may result in less staff time devoted to voter registration at the clerk’s office, but the difference is unlikely to be large enough to reduce staffing needs. The Association indicates the sessions for supervisors would continue as they are required by law. The Association states it is not possible to estimate the impact on municipal expenditures. There would be no impact on municipal revenues.

The Department of Justice anticipates it would have to provide legal counsel to the Secretary of State relating to implementation of the online voter registration system and could do so within its current budget.

AGENCIES CONTACTED:

Departments of State, Justice and Safety and New Hampshire Municipal Association