ORS 247.018 Transfer of voter registration records to Secretary of State from Oregon Health Authority; opt-out of registration; rules

Subject to compliance with all applicable federal laws and regulations, the Secretary of State shall by rule establish a schedule by which the Oregon Health Authority shall provide to the secretary electronic records, derived from information provided to the Oregon Health Plan, containing the legal name, age, residence and citizenship information for, and, if any, the electronic signature of, each person who is eligible to be a qualified elector under Article II, section 2, of the Oregon Constitution.

The secretary shall establish by rule, after consultation with the authority, what electronic records establish whether a person is eligible to be a qualified elector for purposes of this subsection.

Notwithstanding paragraph (a) of this subsection, the authority may not provide to the secretary any electronic records for a person who is not a citizen of the United States.

When establishing a schedule under subsection (1) of this section, the secretary may adopt rules governing the format and frequency of data transfer. Any rules adopted under this subsection:

Are subject to input and public comment, including comment from the authority; and

May come into effect only after the secretary and authority test and verify the data transfer processes.

The secretary:

Shall by rule develop a process to obtain an electronic signature from the Department of Transportation for each person described in subsection (1) of this section for whom the authority does not provide an electronic signature under this section; and

May use an electronic signature that is obtained under paragraph (a) of this subsection or that is otherwise in the secretary’s possession, for the purpose of registering electors to vote under this section.

Upon receiving the electronic record for a person described in subsection (1) of this section, the secretary shall provide the information to the county clerk of the county in which the person may be registered as an elector. The secretary or county clerk shall notify each person of the process to:

Decline being registered as an elector;

Adopt a political party affiliation; and

Provide a signature if no signature was provided under subsection (1) of this section and the secretary does not have a copy of the signature and is unable to obtain an electronic copy of the signature from the Department of Transportation under subsection (3) of this section.

Notwithstanding the absence of any signature, if a person notified under subsection (4) of this section does not decline to be registered as an elector within 21 calendar days after the secretary or county clerk issues the notification, the person’s electronic record submitted to the county clerk under subsection (4) of this section will constitute a completed registration card for the person for purposes of this chapter. The person shall be registered to vote if the county clerk determines that the person is qualified to vote under Article II, section 2, of the Oregon Constitution, and the person is not already registered to vote.

A county clerk may not send a ballot to, or add to an elector registration list, a person who is determined under subsection (5) of this section to be qualified to vote, and who is not already registered to vote, until at least 21 calendar days after the secretary or county clerk provided notification to the person as described in subsection (4) of this section.

The transfer of personal information and data by the authority or department to the secretary under this section is limited to the information and data that is necessary to register electors. Information and data transferred to the secretary under this section may be used only for the purpose of registering electors.

The secretary shall adopt rules required to implement this section, including rules to ensure that no ballot is counted for a person registered to vote under this section whose registration record does not contain an electronic signature.

As used in this section, “electronic signature” means an electronic form of a handwritten signature that can be verified, in the manner described in ORS 254.470 (11), for the purpose of tallying ballots.