§ 163-82.19. Voter registration at drivers license offices; coordination on data interface. - North Carolina Statutes

§ 163‑82.19.  Voterregistration at drivers license offices; coordination on data interface.

(a)        Voter Registrationat Drivers License Offices. – The Division of Motor Vehicles shall, pursuant tothe rules adopted by the State Board of Elections, modify its forms so that anyeligible person who applies for original issuance, renewal or correction of adrivers license, or special identification card issued under G.S. 20‑37.7may, on a part of the form, complete an application to register to vote, or toupdate the voter's registration if the voter has changed his or her address ormoved from one precinct to another or from one county to another, or topreregister to vote. The person taking the application shall ask if theapplicant is a citizen of the United States. If the applicant states that theapplicant is not a citizen of the United States, or declines to answer thequestion, the person taking the application shall inform the applicant that itis a felony for a person who is not a citizen of the United States to apply toregister to vote. Any person who willfully and knowingly and with fraudulentintent gives false information on the application is guilty of a Class Ifelony. The application shall state in clear language the penalty for violationof this section. The necessary forms shall be prescribed by the State Board ofElections. The form must ask for the previous voter registration address of thevoter, if any. If a previous address is listed, and it is not in the county ofresidence of the applicant, the appropriate county board of elections shalltreat the application as an authorization to cancel the previous registrationand also process it as such under the procedures of G.S. 163‑82.9. If aprevious address is listed and that address is in the county where the voterapplies to register, the application shall be processed as if it had beensubmitted under G.S. 163‑82.9.

Registration shall becomeeffective as provided in G.S. 163‑82.7. Applications to register to voteaccepted at a drivers license office under this section until the deadlineestablished in G.S. 163‑82.6(c)(2) shall be treated as timely made for anelection, and no person who completes an application at that drivers licenseoffice shall be denied the vote in that election for failure to apply earlierthan that deadline.

All applications shall beforwarded by the Department of Transportation to the appropriate board ofelections not later than five business days after the date of acceptance,according to rules which shall be promulgated by the State Board of Elections.Those rules shall provide for a paperless, instant, electronic transfer ofapplications to the appropriate board of elections. Applications forpreregistration to vote shall be forwarded to the State Board of Elections.

(b)        Coordination onData Interface. – The Department of Transportation jointly with the State Boardof Elections shall develop and operate a computerized interface to matchinformation in the database of the statewide voter registration system with thedrivers license information in the Division of Motor Vehicles to the extentrequired to enable the State Board of Elections and the Department ofTransportation to verify the accuracy of the information provided onapplications for voter registration, whether the applications were received atdrivers license offices or elsewhere. The Department of Transportation and theState Board shall implement the provisions of this subsection so as to complywith section 303 of the Help America Vote Act of 2002. The Department ofTransportation shall enter into an agreement with the Commissioner of SocialSecurity so as to comply with section 303 of the Help America Vote Act of 2002. (1983, c. 854,s. 1; 1991 (Reg. Sess., 1992), c. 1044, s. 19(a); 1993, c. 74, s. 2; 1993 (Reg.Sess., 1994), c. 762, s. 2; 1998‑149, s. 11.1; 2001‑319, s. 7(a);2003‑226, s. 7(b); 2009‑541, s. 13(a).)