Article 51, § 7 — Registration Record Files

(a) By the deadline to establish a computerized statewide voter registration database under the federal Help America Vote Act of 2002, including any waivers or extensions of that deadline, the Secretary of State shall define, maintain, and administer the official, centralized, and interactive computerized voter registration list for all voters legally residing within the State. The list shall include: (1) The name, address, county, precinct, assigned unique identifier and registration information of every legally registered voter in the state; (2) The inactive registration records of persons who have failed to respond to address confirmation mailings described in § 10 of this amendment; (3) List maintenance information for each person receiving address confirmation notices or final address confirmation notices, or both, and the person's response; and (4) Cancelled voter registration records and documentation noting the reason for cancellation. (b) The computerized list shall serve as the single system for storing and managing the official list of registered voters throughout the state. (c) The computerized list shall serve as the official voter registration list for the conduct of all elections for federal, state, county, municipal, school, or other office in the state. (d) The permanent registrar of each county shall maintain copies of that county's precinct voter registration list from the statewide computerized list as necessary for holding elections. (e) The computerized list shall be coordinated with other state agency records on felony status as maintained by the Arkansas Crime Information Center, records on death as maintained by the State Department of Health, and driver's license records maintained by the Office of Driver Services, according to § 9 of Amendment 51 to the Arkansas Constitution. (f) A person with an inactive voter registration status may activate his or her voting status by appearing to vote at the precinct in which he or she currently resides or by updating his or her voter registration records with the permanent registrar of the county in which he or she resides. (g) The county board of election commissioners or other lawfully designated election officials shall cause the appropriate precinct voter registration lists to be at the polling places on the date of elections, and shall return them at the close of the election to the office of the permanent registrar with the ballot boxes. (h) If the legal residence of a voter is renamed, renumbered, or annexed, the permanent registrar or any local election official may change the name or number of the legal residence on the voter's registration record and any other voting records. Within fifteen (15) days after the records are changed to reflect the new name or number of the residence, the permanent registrar shall notify the voter by mail that the change has been made. (i) (1) The Secretary of State and any permanent registrar in the state, may obtain immediate electronic access to the information contained in the computerized list. (2) All voter registration information obtained by any local election official in the state shall be electronically entered into the computerized list on an expedited basis at the time the information is provided to the local official. (3) The Secretary of State shall provide the support as may be required so that local election officials are able to enter the information. (j) (1) The Secretary of State shall ensure the security and accuracy of the statewide voter registration list. (2) To ensure the security and accuracy of the statewide voter registration list maintained by the Secretary of State, the Secretary of State shall: (A) Cooperate with other states and jurisdictions to compare registered voters, voter history, and voter registration lists to: (i) Ensure the accuracy of the voter registration rolls; (ii) Identify voters whose addresses have changed; (iii) Prevent registration in more than one (1) state; and (iv) Determine eligibility of individuals to vote in Arkansas; (B) Have the authority to utilize any services available to establish and implement a system for the verification of citizenship status for a person registering to vote; (C) Regularly and before each election identify registered voters who are deceased by comparing the information received from the Social Security Administration, including without limitation a master death file or index compiled by the Social Security Administration; (D) Establish and implement a process for the verification of address information: (i) Submitted by a person registering to vote; (ii) Submitted by a registered voter updating his or her address; and (iii) Provided through undeliverable mail by the United States Postal Service concerning a person registering to vote or a registered voter; (E) Ensure all confidential voter registration information and data remains confidential and protected under state and federal law; (F) Allow view-only access to the voter registration record files and data to all county boards of election commissioners to carry out the county board of election commissioners' election administration responsibilities; and (G) Provide annual reports to the Joint Performance Review Committee of the General Assembly concerning the accuracy of the voter registration record files. (3) The Secretary of State shall promulgate rules under the Arkansas Administrative Procedure Act, § 25-15-201 et seq., necessary to: (A) Implement the requirements of this section; and (B) Ensure the security, accuracy, and integrity of the: (i) Statewide voter registration system; (ii) Supporting technologies utilized by the counties to maintain and record voter registration information; (iii) Secure user access requirements established by the Secretary of State; and (iv) Election audit logs.