Collecting, sharing, and verifying information; costs; rulemaking authority.

(a) State agencies shall provide to the Secretary of State, on a schedule to be determined by the Secretary of State, any information and data that the Secretary of State considers necessary in order to maintain the statewide voter registration database established pursuant to Section 17-4-33, except where prohibited by federal law or federal regulation. The Secretary of State shall ensure that any information or data provided to the Secretary of State that is confidential in the possession of the entity providing the data remains confidential while in the possession of the Secretary of State.

(b) The Secretary of State may enter into agreements to share information or data with other states or group of states, as the Secretary of State considers necessary, in order to maintain the statewide voter registration database. Information or data that the Secretary of State may share pursuant to this subsection includes, but is not limited to, an electronic copy of the statewide voter list and data obtained pursuant to subsection (a). Except as otherwise provided in this section, the Secretary of State shall ensure that any information or data provided to the Secretary of State that is confidential in the possession of the state providing the data remains confidential while in the possession of the Secretary of State. The Secretary of State may provide such otherwise confidential information or data to county boards of registrars for legitimate governmental purposes related to the maintenance of the statewide voter registration database.

(c) A county board of registrars shall contact a registered elector by mail to verify the accuracy of the information in the statewide voter registration database regarding that elector if information provided under subsection (a) or (b) identifies a residential address for the elector that lies outside of the county in which the elector is registered to vote, except when the information provided under subsection (a) or (b) indicates that the elector registered to vote in another jurisdiction, within or without the State of Alabama, at a date subsequent to the date the elector registered to vote in the jurisdiction of the county board of registrars.

(d) The costs associated with agreements entered into by the Secretary of State as provided for in subsection (b) may be rendered by the Secretary of State to the Department of Finance and paid from the voter registration fund.

The cost of production and mailing required in subsection (c) shall be rendered by the Secretary of State to the Department of Finance and paid from the voter registration fund.

(e) The Secretary of State may promulgate rules in accordance with the Administrative Procedure Act to implement this section.

(Act 2015-459, §2.)