25-2309. Application for registration; notice of registration to former election official; permissible postal delivery address; public inspection; limitation.
25-2309
25-2309. Application for registration; notice ofregistrationto former election official; permissible postal delivery address; publicinspection; limitation.(a) Any person may apply in person, by mail, through a voterregistration agency, or by other delivery to a county electionofficer to be registered. Such application shall be made on: (1) A formapproved by the secretary of state, which shall be provided by acounty election officer or chief state election official upon request inperson, by telephone or in writing; or (2) the mail voter registrationapplication prescribed by the federal election commission. Such applicationshall be signed by the applicant under penalty of perjury and shall contain theoriginal signature of the applicant or the computerized, electronic ordigitized transmitted signature of the applicant.A signature may be made by mark,initials, typewriter, print, stamp, symbol or any other manner if by placingthe signature on the document the person intends the signature to be binding.A signature may be made by another person at the voter's direction if thesignature reflects such voter's intention.
(b) Applications made under this section shall give voter eligibilityrequirements and such informationas is necessary to identify the applicant and to determine thequalifications of the applicant as an elector and the facts authorizingsuch person to be registered, including, but not limited to, thefollowing data:
(1) Name;
(2) place of residence, including specific address or location, andmailing address if the residence address is not a permissible postal address;
(3) date of birth;
(4) sex;
(5) the last four digits of the person's social security number or theperson's full driver's license or nondriver's identification card number;
(6) telephone number, if available;
(7) naturalization data (if applicable);
(8) if applicant has previously registered or votedelsewhere, residence at time of last registration or voting;
(9) when present residence established;
(10) name under which applicant last registered or voted,if different from present name;
(11) an attestation that the applicant meets each eligibility requirement;
(12) a statement that the penalty for submission of afalse voter registration application is a maximum presumptive sentence of 17months in prison;
(13) a statement that, if an applicant declines toregister to vote, the fact that the applicant has declined to register willremain confidential and will be used only for voter registration purposes;
(14) a statement that if an applicant does register tovote, the office to which a voter registration application is submitted willremain confidential and will be used only for voter registration purposes;
(15) boxes for the applicant to check to indicate whether the applicant isor is not a citizen of the United States, together with the question "Are you acitizen of the United States of America?";
(16) boxes for the applicant to check to indicate whether or not theapplicant will be 18 years of age or older on election day, together with thequestion "Will you be 18 years of age on or before election day?";
(17) in reference to paragraphs (15) and (16) the statement "If you checked'no' in response to either of these questions, do not complete this form.";
(18) a statement that the applicant may be required to provideidentification when voting; and
(19) political party affiliation declaration, if any. Anapplicant's failure to make a declaration will result in the applicant beingregistered as an unaffiliated voter.
If the application discloses any previous registration in any other countyor state, as indicated by paragraph (8) or (10), orotherwise, the county election officer shall upon the registration of theapplicant, give notice to the election official of the place of formerregistration, notifying such official of applicant's present residence andregistration, and authorizing cancellation of such former registration.
(c) Any person who applies for registration through a voter registrationagency shall be provided with, in addition to the application under subsection(b), a form which includes:
(1) The question "If you are not registered to vote where you live now,would you like to apply to register to vote here today?";
(2) a statement that if the applicant declines to register to vote, thisdecision will remain confidential and be used only for voter registrationpurposes;
(3) a statement that if the applicant does register to vote, informationregarding the office to which the application was submitted will remainconfidential and be used only for voter registration purposes; and
(4) if the agency provides public assistance, (i) the statement "Applyingto register or declining to register to vote will not affect the amount ofassistance that you will be provided by this agency.";
(ii) boxes for the applicant to check to indicate whether the applicantwould like to register or declines to register to vote, together with thestatement "IF YOU DO NOT CHECK EITHER BOX, YOU WILL BE CONSIDERED TO HAVEDECIDED NOT TO REGISTER TO VOTE AT THIS TIME.";
(iii) the statement "If you would like help in filling out the voterregistration application form, we will help you. The decision whetherto seek or accept help is yours. You may fill out the application form inprivate."; and
(iv) the statement "If you believe that someone has interfered with yourright to register or to decline to register to vote, your right to privacy indeciding whether to register or in applying to register to vote, or your rightto choose your own political party or other political preference, you may filea complaint with the Kansas Secretary of State."
(d) If any person, in writing, declinesto register to vote, the voter registration agency shall maintain the formprescribed by subsection (c).
(e) A voter registration agency shall transmit the completed registrationapplication to the county election officer not later than five days after thedate of acceptance. Upon receipt of an application for registration, the countyelection officer shall send, by nonforwardable mail, a notice of disposition ofthe application to the applicant at the postal delivery address shown on theapplication. If a notice of disposition is returned as undeliverable, aconfirmation mailing prescribed by K.S.A. 25-2316c, and amendments thereto,shall occur.
(f) If an application is received while registration is closed, suchapplication shall be considered to have been received on the next following dayduring which registration is open.
(g) A person who completes an application for voter registration shall beconsidered a registered voter when the county election officer adds theapplicant's name to the county voter registration list.
(h) Any registered voter whose residence address is not a permissible postaldelivery address shall designate a postal address for registration records.When a county election officer has reason to believe that a voter'sregistration residence is not a permissible postal delivery address, thecounty election officer shall attempt to determine a proper mailing address forthe voter.
(i) Any registered voter may request that such person's residence addressbe concealed from public inspection on the voter registration list and on theoriginal voter registration application form. Such request shall be made inwriting to the county election officer, and shall specify a clearly unwarrantedinvasion of personal privacy or a threat to the voter's safety. Upon receipt ofsuch a request, the county election officer shall take appropriate steps toensure that such person's residence address is not publicly disclosed. Nothingin this subsection shall be construed as requiring or authorizing the secretaryof state to include on the voter registration application form a space orother provision on the form that would allow the applicant to request that suchapplicant's residence address be concealed from public inspection.
(j) No application for voter registration shall be made available forpublic inspection or copying unless the information required by paragraph (5)of subsection (b) has been removed or otherwise rendered unreadable.
(k) If an applicant fails to answer the question prescribed in paragraph(15) of subsection(b), the county election officer shall send the application to theapplicant at the postal delivery address given on the application, bynonforwardable mail, with a notice of incompleteness. The notice shall specifya period of time during which the applicant may complete the application inaccordance with K.S.A. 25-2311, and amendments thereto, and be eligible tovote in the next election.
History: L. 1968, ch. 55, § 9;L. 1972, ch. 141, § 3;L.1976, ch. 181, § 7;L. 1980, ch. 112, § 1;L. 1982, ch. 154, § 3;L. 1996, ch. 187, § 7;L. 1997, ch. 124, § 13;L. 1999, ch. 105, § 2;L. 2000, ch. 56, § 3;L. 2001, ch. 42, § 1;L. 2001, ch. 211, § 6;L. 2004, ch. 93, § 4; July 1.