Senate File 2203 - Introduced SENATE FILE 2203 BY COMMITTEE ON STATE GOVERNMENT (SUCCESSOR TO SSB 3045) A BILL FOR An Act relating to the verification of United States 1 citizenship of persons registering to vote and registered 2 voters. 3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA: 4 TLSB 5635SV (2) 91 ss/ns
S.F. 2203 Section 1. NEW SECTION . 48A.25B Verification of 1 citizenship. 2 1. a. The state registrar of voters shall attempt to verify 3 all registered voters’ United States citizenship using the 4 systematic alien verification for entitlements system of the 5 United States citizenship and immigration services, or its 6 successor agency. The state registrar of voters shall provide 7 notice to each county commissioner of registration of the 8 results of the citizenship verification for each registrant in 9 the county commissioner’s county. 10 b. Upon receipt of a notification that a registrant has not 11 been verified as a United States citizen, a county commissioner 12 of registration shall designate the records of the registrant 13 as unconfirmed as provided in section 48A.37, subsection 2. 14 2. A county commissioner of registration shall send notice 15 to a registrant whose record has been designated as unconfirmed 16 pursuant to subsection 1 that includes all of the following: 17 a. An opportunity for the registrant to cancel the 18 registrant’s voter registration. 19 b. Instructions on how the registrant can provide proof of 20 citizenship to the county commissioner of registration. 21 c. Information on how to contact the United States 22 citizenship and immigration services, or its successor 23 agency, to correct information that the registrant believes is 24 inaccurate. 25 3. A registration that has been designated as unconfirmed 26 pursuant to subsection 1 shall be canceled pursuant to section 27 48A.30 if the registrant does not provide proof of citizenship 28 within ninety days of receiving a notice sent pursuant to 29 subsection 2. 30 4. The state registrar of voters shall, on a monthly basis, 31 verify the United States citizenship of all newly registered 32 voters as provided in subsection 1 and shall, on an annual 33 basis, verify the United States citizenship of all registered 34 voters as provided in subsection 1. 35 -1- LSB 5635SV (2) 91 ss/ns 1/ 2
S.F. 2203 EXPLANATION 1 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with 2 the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly. 3 This bill relates to the verification of the citizenship 4 status of registered voters and applicants to register to vote. 5 The bill requires the state registrar of voters (registrar) 6 to use the systematic alien verification for entitlements 7 system of the U.S. citizenship and immigration services to 8 verify the U.S. citizenship of all registered voters. The bill 9 requires the registrar to inform each county commissioner of 10 registration (commissioner) of the results of the verification 11 for each registrant in the commissioner’s county. 12 Upon the receipt of a notification that the U.S. citizenship 13 of a registrant could not be confirmed, the bill requires 14 a commissioner to designate the records of the registrant 15 as unconfirmed and to send notice to the registrant with 16 information regarding how to cancel the registrant’s voter 17 registration, provide proof of citizenship, and contact 18 the U.S. citizenship and immigration services to correct 19 information that the registrant believes to be inaccurate. If 20 a registrant does not provide proof of citizenship within 90 21 days of receipt of notice, the bill requires a commissioner to 22 cancel the registration. 23 The bill also requires the registrar to verify the U.S. 24 citizenship of all newly registered voters on a monthly basis 25 and to verify the U.S. citizenship of all registered voters on 26 an annual basis. 27 -2- LSB 5635SV (2) 91 ss/ns 2/ 2