08 LC 28
4031
House
Bill 1175
By:
Representatives Williams of the
4th,
Lunsford of the
110th,
Heard of the
104th,
Rogers of the
26th,
Amerson of the
9th,
and others
A
BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
AN ACT
To
amend Chapter 2 of Title 21 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating
to elections and primaries generally, so as to provide that persons applying to
register to vote shall provide proof of United States citizenship prior to the
acceptance of their registrations; to provide for acceptable forms of proof of
citizenship; to provide for retention of such information; to provide for
related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other
purposes.
BE
IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:
SECTION
1.
Chapter
2 of Title 21 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to elections
and primaries generally, is amended by adding a new subsection to Code Section
21-2-216, relating to qualifications of electors generally, to read as
follows:
"(g)(1)
On and after July 1, 2008, an application for registration under this chapter
shall be accompanied by satisfactory evidence of United States citizenship. The
registrars shall reject any application for registration for which no
satisfactory proof of citizenship is provided. Upon the receipt of an
application without satisfactory proof of citizenship, the board of registrars
shall notify the applicant in writing of the requirement to provide adequate
proof of citizenship. The board of registrars shall not determine the
eligibility of the applicant until and unless satisfactory proof of citizenship
is supplied by the applicant. If the initial application is received prior to
the close of voter registration prior to an election, if the applicant supplies
satisfactory evidence of citizenship on or prior to the date of the election,
and if the applicant is found eligible to vote, the applicant shall be added to
the list of electors and shall be permitted to vote in the election and any
run-off elections resulting therefrom and subsequent elections; provided,
however, that electors who registered to vote for the first time in this state
by mail shall supply current and valid identification when voting for the first
time as required in subsection (c) of Code Section 21-2-220. In the event the
applicant does not respond to the request for the missing information within 30
days following the sending of the notice to provide adequate proof of
citizenship, the application shall be rejected.
(2)
Satisfactory evidence of citizenship shall include any of the
following:
(A)
A legible photocopy of the applicant´s birth certificate that verifies
citizenship to the satisfaction of the board of registrars;
(B)
A legible photocopy of pertinent pages of the applicant´s United States
passport identifying the applicant and the applicant´s passport number or
presentation to the board of registrars of the applicant´s United States
passport;
(C)
A presentation to the board of registrars of the applicant´s United States
naturalization documents or the number of the certificate of naturalization. If
only the number of the certificate of naturalization is provided, the applicant
shall not be found eligible to vote until the number of the certificate of
naturalization is verified with the United States Citizenship and Immigration
Services by the board of registrars;
(D)
Other documents or methods of proof that are established pursuant to the federal
Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (P. L. 99-603);
and
(E)
The applicant´s Bureau of Indian Affairs card number, tribal treaty card
number, or tribal enrollment number.
(3)
Notwithstanding any provision of this subsection, any person who is registered
in this state on July 1, 2009, shall be deemed to have provided satisfactory
evidence of citizenship and shall not be required to resubmit evidence of
citizenship unless the person changes voter registration from one county to
another.
(4)
For the purposes of this subsection, proof of voter registration from another
state or county shall not be satisfactory evidence of citizenship.
(5)
A person who changes addresses within a county shall not be required to submit
evidence of citizenship. After citizenship has been demonstrated to the board
of registrars, an elector shall not be required to resubmit satisfactory
evidence of citizenship in that county.
(6)
After a person has submitted satisfactory evidence of citizenship, the board of
registrars shall indicate such information on the elector´s permanent voter
file. After two years, the board of registrars may destroy all documents that
were submitted as evidence of citizenship."
SECTION
2.
All
laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.