SB 346

Under existing law, each registrar in the state is paid a set daily salary for each day worked and is provided with a mileage allowance for official travel. Under existing law, boards of registrars are required to visit colleges and universities having an enrollment of 500 or more at least once during the school year for the purpose of registering voters. Also under existing law, a board of registrars is required to notify a person convicted of a disqualifying criminal offense by certified mail that he or she will be disqualified to vote

This bill would provide one annual personal leave day to registrars other than those in counties where Mardi Gras is a recognized holiday

This bill would provide registrars with per diem payments for official travel days

This bill would require the offices of boards of registrars to be open during regular business hours of the county government

This bill would make visits to colleges and universities by registrars in order to register voters optional rather than mandatory

This bill would also require registrars to notify a person convicted of a disqualifying criminal offense by first class mail that he or she will be disqualified to vote

Relating to boards of registrars; to amend Sections 17-3-5, 17-3-8, 17-3-11, and 17-4-3, as last amended by Act 2017-378, 2017 Regular Session, Code of Alabama 1975; to provide one annual personal leave day to registrars other than registrars in counties where Mardi Gras is a recognized holiday; to provide registrars with per diem payments for official travel days; to require the offices of boards of registrars to be open during regular business hours of the county government; to make visits to colleges and universities by registrars in order to register voters optional rather than mandatory; and to require registrars to notify a person convicted of a disqualifying criminal offense by first class mail rather than by certified mail that he or she will be disqualified to vote.

Section 1

Sections 17-3-5, 17-3-8, 17-3-11, and 17-4-3, as last amended by Act 2017-378, 2017 Regular Session, Code of Alabama 1975, are amended to read as follows:

§17-3-5.

(a) Each registrar shall receive a salary in the amount of eighty dollars ($80) per day for each day's attendance upon business of the board, to be paid by the state and disbursed to the county commissions and disbursed by the county commissions to each registrar on order of a quorum of the board of registrars of the county. The state Comptroller shall issue to each county commission on a monthly basis an amount sufficient to fund these payments plus the employer share of the Social Security or Federal Insurance Corporation Act tax. The county commission will provide to the state Comptroller an invoice itemized to reflect payments made. If a legal holiday recognized by a county falls on a day the board is to be in session, and the courthouse of the county government is closed for the holiday, the office of the board of registrars shall be closed and the registrars shall be compensated for the holiday. Registrars in all counties, except in those counties that recognize Mardi Gras as a holiday, shall be granted one paid personal leave day per year. Each registrar shall receive a mileage allowance and per diem equal to the amount allowed state employees subject to the same rules and procedures applicable to state employees, or employees of the county, whichever is greater, for official travel in the course of attending the business of the board, including attending continuing education programs related to election administration. Travel and other expenses The mileage allowance and per diem shall be paid by the county commissions to the boards of registrars and the state shall reimburse the county commissions based on a written request submitted by the county commissions to the state Comptroller.

(b) The provisions of this section regarding travel mileage shall not apply in any county having a population of 600,000 or more inhabitants according to the 1970 or any succeeding federal decennial census, and any currently effective local law or general law of local application regarding travel mileage for registrars in the county shall remain in full force and effect and shall not be repealed by operation of this chapter.

(c) Members of the boards of registrars of this state are hereby declared to be state employees for the purposes of Chapter 28 of Title 36.

(d) Members of the boards of registrars of this state shall be treated as equals with other state and county employees in regard to Social Security protection and benefits.

(e) All payments by a county to any member of a county board of registrars (except for mileage or reimbursement for expenses) shall be treated for Social Security purposes equally with payments by that county to other county employees of the county.

(f) The state office for Social Security and the state Comptroller and each county commission are directed to take all necessary action to insure that members of the boards of registrars of this state are treated as other state and county employees in regard to Social Security protection and benefits as provided in Chapter 28 of Title 36, including, if necessary, amending the federal-state agreement referred to in Chapter 28 of Title 36, to implement the intent of the Legislature as expressed herein.

(g) No county commission may reduce the current county supplement upon the effect of this section by implementation of Act 94-693.

(h) A county commission may allow the chair or any member of the county board of registrars who has served at least 16 years in that position to participate in any health insurance program provided by the county upon the same terms, conditions, and employee contributions as required for county employees.

This subsection shall not apply to any health insurance plans administered by the State of Alabama as described in Title 36, Chapter 29 and Title 11, Chapter 91A.

§17-3-8.

(a) Each member of the board of registrars in the Counties of Chambers, Clay, Cleburne, Coosa, Dallas, Escambia, Geneva, Lowndes, Perry, Sumter, and Wilcox may meet a maximum of 120 working days each fiscal year; each member of the board of registrars in the Counties of Barbour, Blount, Butler, Fayette, Greene, Lee, Marengo, Pickens, Pike, Randolph, and Winston may meet a maximum of 168 working days each fiscal year, except in the Counties of Lee and Pike each board of registrars may meet up to an additional 30 session days each fiscal year, at the discretion of the chair of the county commission, and such days shall be paid from the respective county funds; each member of the board of registrars in Tallapoosa County and each member of the board of registrars in Talladega County may meet a maximum of 220 working days each fiscal year, except that in Talladega County the board of registrars may meet up to an additional 30 session days each fiscal year, at the discretion of the chair of the county commission; each member of the board of registrars in the Counties of Dale, Franklin, Houston, Marion, Marshall, Bullock, Macon, and Tuscaloosa may meet a maximum of 216 working days each fiscal year; each member of the board of registrars in the Counties of Limestone and Shelby may meet a maximum of 167 working days each fiscal year; and each member of the board of registrars in Russell County may meet a maximum of 177 working days each fiscal year.

(b) In the Counties of Choctaw, Coffee, Colbert, Cullman, Lauderdale, and Monroe each member of the board of registrars may meet a maximum of 199 working days each fiscal year.

(c) Each member of the Board of Registrars of Autauga, Elmore, and Bibb Counties may meet a maximum of 187 working days each fiscal year. Each member of the Board of Registrars of Walker County may meet a maximum of 200 days each fiscal year and each member of the Board of Registrars of Lamar, Cherokee, Clarke, Conecuh, Crenshaw, Hale, and Washington Counties may meet a maximum of 140 days each fiscal year. Each member of the board of registrars in the following counties may meet the following maximum number of working days each fiscal year: Henry - 140 working days; Covington - 188 working days; DeKalb - 207 working days; Jackson - 207 working days; Etowah - 207 working days; and Lawrence - 140 working days.

(d) Each member of the board of registrars in the Counties of Baldwin, Calhoun, Chilton, Madison, Mobile, Montgomery, St. Clair, and Morgan are authorized to meet not more than five days each week for the purpose of carrying out their official duties. Jefferson County, which is now operating under the provisions of local laws, shall be exempted from the provisions of this section. Provided, however, that where the words "each year" are used in the local laws the words mean "each fiscal year."

(e) The actual number of working days to be used as session days shall be determined by a quorum of the board of registrars according to the needs of the county.

(f) As many as 25 of the allotted working days may be used for special registration sessions (i.e., those sessions held away from the courthouse in the several precincts of the county or sessions held on Saturday or between the hours of 5:00 P.M. and 9:00 P.M.). Notice of any special session scheduled by the board shall be given at least 10 days prior to the special session by (1) bills posted at three or more public places in each election precinct affected, if the session involves precinct visits, and (2) advertisement once a week for two successive weeks in a newspaper published in the county or by radio or television announcements on a local station, or both by newspaper or announcement.

(g) The board of registrars' office in each county shall be open during the regular business hours of the county government. Nothing in this subsection shall prohibit a member of any board of registrars from attending training or continuing education programs related to election administration.

§17-3-11.

(a) The board of registrars in each county shall may visit each college or university, whether public or private, having an enrollment of 500 or more, which is located therein, at least once during the school year for the purpose of registering voters, and shall remain there for one full working day, weekends and holidays excepted. They shall give at least 12 days' notice of the time and place where they will attend to register applicants for registration, by bills posted at three or more public places and by advertisement once a week for three consecutive weeks in a campus newspaper, if there is one published on the campus. Each college or university receiving state funds that is affected by the provisions of this section shall provide space and accommodations for the board of registrars on their campus.

(b) Each member of the board of registrars shall be entitled to receive their usual salary and per diem for attending the meetings of the board of registrars provided for in this section.

§17-4-3.

(a) Each county board of registrars shall purge the computerized statewide voter registration list on a continuous basis, whenever it receives and confirms information that a person registered to vote in that county has died, become a nonresident of the state or county, been declared mentally incompetent, been convicted of any offense designated pursuant to Section 17-3-30.1 as a felony involving moral turpitude for the purposes of Article VIII of the Constitution of Alabama of 1901 since being registered, or otherwise become disqualified as an elector. Except as provided below, a person convicted of a disqualifying criminal offense shall be notified by certified first class mail sent to the voter's last known address of the board's intention to strike his or her name from the list. No person convicted of a disqualifying crime may be stricken from the poll list while an appeal from the conviction is pending.

(b) On the date set in the notice, or at a later date to which the case may have been continued by the board, the board shall proceed to consider the case of the elector whose name it proposes to strike from the registration list and make its determination. Any person whose name is stricken from the list may appeal from the decision of the board without giving security for costs, and the board shall forthwith certify the proceedings to the judge of probate who shall docket the case in the probate court.

(c) An appeal from the judge of probate shall be as appeals set forth in Section 17-3-55.

(d) In the event the Board of Pardons and Paroles is supervising a person convicted of a disqualifying criminal offense on probation or parole, and the person has received face-to-face counseling from the supervising officer regarding voter disqualification and executed documentation explaining the loss and restoration of civil and political rights, upon receipt of the documentation, signed by the disqualified elector, the county board of registrars shall be exempt from providing notice as otherwise required by this section. The document administered by the Board of Pardons and Paroles and to be signed by the disqualified elector shall contain the following statement: "Any person convicted of a disqualifying felony loses his or her civil and political rights, which includes the right to vote. Restoration of these rights may be applied for through the Central Montgomery Office of the Board of Pardons and Paroles, but only upon completion of the requirements of Section 15-22-36.1."

(e) The Board of Pardons and Paroles shall provide signed documentation to county boards of registrars to indicate those persons under probation or parole supervision with the board who have been convicted of a disqualifying criminal offense and been counseled regarding voter disqualification and the restoration of civil and political rights, and may otherwise share privileged records and files with county boards of registrars for the limited purpose of implementing the requirements of this section.

(f) When the board has sufficient evidence furnished it that any elector has permanently moved from one precinct to another within the county, it shall change the elector's precinct designation in the voter registration list, and shall give notice by mail to the elector of the precinct in which the elector is registered to vote.

(g) The Secretary of State and the Board of Pardons and Paroles may promulgate rules in accordance with the Alabama Administrative Procedure Act as necessary to implement this section."

Section 2

This act shall become effective on the first day of the third month following its passage and approval by the Governor, or its otherwise becoming law.