Committee adopts amendment tightening county voter-list maintenance; bill passed as amended

The Elections and Apportionment Committee on an undisclosed date approved Senate Bill 10 as amended, moving the measure out of committee by a 9-4 vote after adopting a key amendment that speeds county voter-list maintenance and adds a mechanism for interstate data-sharing.

Representative Culp offered amendment 10, which the committee adopted 8-4. The amendment requires a county voter registration office to perform maintenance and mail a notice to any registered voter who has not cast a ballot in the two most recent general elections within 48 hours of receiving information that triggers maintenance. The amendment also directs the Secretary of State to contact counterparts in other states to offer a voter-registration list-sharing agreement for identifying voters who may be registered in multiple states and prohibits sale or sharing of that data with non-election officials.

Supporters said the 48-hour requirement narrows an existing statutory phrase that previously required maintenance on a "regular basis" and in the senate version "not less than…