Committee asks secretary of state to develop re-registration form for voters removed in roll purge

A committee of conference agreed to add language directing the secretary of state to develop a short re-registration form for voters removed from the voter rolls, the Chair said at the panel's reconvened session.

The change would add a new paragraph directing the secretary of state to develop forms "necessary for reregistration of a voter removed from the list by the procedure above," the Chair said. The House agreed to the proposal, and the committee said it would prepare the language for signatures.

The move was presented as a practical fix to make the post-purge re-registration process quicker. "What we're looking at is a form, a much abbreviated form, you know, reregistration form where they can copy down their name, they can copy down their voter ID number," the Chair said during the earlier discussion of the item.

Senator Parker said she viewed the form change as constructive but reiterated opposition to the bill as a whole. Parker warned that more frequent purges—especially combined with recent measures tightening absentee voting—could result in eligible voters being turned away. "When voter rolls are, purged unnecessarily often, it results in people being denied the right to vote," she said, and noted prior action taken last year on related measures.

In the same exchange the senator noted the alternative of joining a different approach to keeping rolls clean, saying it could preserve roll accuracy without the new statutory language under consideration.

The committee recorded a brief roll-style count during the action; the transcript records "2 in favor, 1 against." The House later indicated agreement and the Chair said the finalized language would be prepared for signatures.

Background details recorded in the meeting show staff (OLS) often edits legislative text slightly; the final paragraph added to the House version includes language directing the secretary of state to develop the re-registration forms, and the Chair said he would have the form language ready for members' signatures.

The discussion included broader policy concerns voiced by some senators about recent bills and rules affecting absentee ballots, which they said, in combination with roll purges, could make it harder for some voters to cast ballots. The committee did not adopt additional restrictions at this meeting and limited the action to instructing the secretary of state to prepare the re-registration form.