§ 5-212 — Motor vehicle registration

§ 5-212. Motor vehicle registration. 1. In addition to any other\nmethod of voter registration provided for in this article, any qualified\nperson may apply for registration and enrollment by application made\nsimultaneously and integrated with an application for a motor vehicle\ndriver's license, a driver's license renewal or an identification card\nif such a card is issued by the department of motor vehicles in its\nnormal course of business.\n 2. The department of motor vehicles, with the approval of the state\nboard of elections, shall design a form or forms which shall, in\naddition to eliciting such information as may be required by the\ndepartment of motor vehicles for a driver's license, a driver's license\nrenewal, a change of address notification or an identification card,\nserve as an application for registration and enrollment, or a\nregistration necessitated by a change of residence. The cost of such\nforms shall be borne by the department of motor vehicles.\n 3. The voter registration portion of such forms:\n (a) shall not require any information that duplicates the information\nrequired on the application for the driver license portion and shall\nrequire only such additional information, including the applicant's\nsignature, as will enable election officials to assess the applicant's\neligibility to register to vote, prevent duplicate registration and to\nadminister voter registration and other parts of the election process.\n (b) shall include a statement of the eligibility requirements for\nvoter registration and shall require the applicant to attest by his\nsignature that he meets those requirements under penalty of perjury.\n (c) shall inform the applicant, in print identical to that used in the\nattestation section of the following:\n (i) voter eligibility requirements;\n (ii) penalties for submission of false registration application;\n (iii) that the office where applicant registers shall remain\nconfidential and the information be used only for voter registration\npurposes;\n (iv) if the applicant declines to register, his declination shall\nremain confidential and be used only for voter registration purposes;\n 4. Included on the form or on a separate form shall be:\n (a) the question, "If you are not registered to vote where you live\nnow, would you like to apply to register here today?"\n (b) boxes for the applicant to check to indicate whether the applicant\nwould like to register or decline to register to vote.\n (c) the statement in prominent type, "IF YOU DO NOT CHECK EITHER BOX,\nYOU WILL BE CONSIDERED TO HAVE DECIDED NOT TO REGISTER TO VOTE AT THIS\nTIME."\n (d) the statement, "If you would like help in filling out the voter\nregistration application form, we will help you. The decision whether to\nseek or accept help is yours. You may fill out the application form in\nprivate."\n (e) the statement, "If you believe that someone has interfered with\nyour right to register or decline to register to vote, your right to\nprivacy in deciding whether to register or in applying to register to\nvote, or your right to choose your own political party or other\npolitical preference, you may file a complaint with the state board of\nelections (address and toll free telephone number)."\n (f) a toll free number at the state board of elections that can be\ncalled for answers to registration questions.\n 5. The form containing the declination to register to vote shall be\nretained by the department of motor vehicles for the same period of time\nas such department retains the accompanying application for services or\nfor such shorter period of time as may be approved by the state board of\nelections.\n 6. The department of motor vehicles shall transmit that portion of the\nform which constitutes the completed application for registration or\nchange of address form to the appropriate board of elections not later\nthan ten days after receipt except that all such completed applications\nand forms received by the department after the twentieth day prior to an\nelection and by the twelfth day before such election shall be\ntransmitted in such manner and at such time as to assure their receipt\nby such board of elections as soon as practicable and not later than the\ntenth day before such election. All transmittals shall include original\nsignatures.\n 7. Completed application forms received by the department of motor\nvehicles not later than the twelfth day before the next ensuing primary,\ngeneral or special election and transmitted by such department to the\nappropriate board of elections so that they are received not later than\nthe tenth day before such election shall entitle the applicant to vote\nin such election provided the board determines that the applicant is\notherwise qualified.\n 8. Disclosure of voter registration information, including a\ndeclination to register, by the department of motor vehicles, its agents\nor employees, for other than voter registration purposes, shall be\ndeemed an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy pursuant to the\nprovisions of subdivision two of section eighty-nine of the public\nofficers law and shall constitute a violation of this chapter.\n 9. Application forms shall be processed by the board of elections in\nthe manner prescribed by section 5-210 of this title or, if the\napplicant is already registered to vote from another address in such\ncounty or city, in the manner prescribed by section 5-208 of this title.\nThe board shall send the appropriate notice of approval or rejection as\nrequired by either subdivision nine of such section 5-210 or subdivision\nfive of such section 5-208.\n 10. Strict neutrality with respect to a person's party enrollment\nshall be maintained and all persons seeking voter registration forms and\ninformation shall be advised that government services are not\nconditioned on being registered to vote.\n 11. No statement shall be made nor any action taken to discourage the\napplicant from registering to vote.\n 12. The department of motor vehicles shall provide to each person who\nchooses to register to vote the same level of assistance provided to\npersons in connection with the completion of the agency's own forms,\nunless such person refuses such assistance.\n 13. The state board shall adopt such rules and regulations as may be\nnecessary to carry out the requirements of this section. The board shall\nalso adopt such rules and regulations as may be necessary to require\ncounty boards and the department of motor vehicles to provide the state\nboard with such information and data as the board deems necessary to\nassess compliance with this section and to compile such statistics as\nmay be required by the federal elections commission.\n 14. The state board shall develop and distribute public information\nand promotional materials relating to the purposes and implementation of\nthis program.\n 15. The state board shall prepare and distribute to the department of\nmotor vehicles written instructions as to the implementation of the\nprogram and shall be responsible for establishing training programs for\nemployees of the department of motor vehicles involved in such program.\n 16. The commissioner of motor vehicles shall take all actions which\nare necessary and proper for the implementation of this section. The\ncommissioner of motor vehicles shall designate one person within the\nagency as the agency voter registration coordinator who will, under the\ndirection of the state board of elections, be responsible for the voter\nregistration program in such agency.\n