(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the following procedures may be used in the registration of electors in addition to the procedure otherwise provided by law.

(1) Subject to the provision of Section 7-5-150, any qualified citizen may register to vote by mailing or having delivered a completed state registration by mail application form or a completed national registration by mail application form prescribed by the Federal Election Commission not later than thirty days before any election to his county board of voter registration and elections. The postmark date of a mailed application is considered the date of mailing. If the postmark date is missing or illegible, the county board of voter registration and elections must accept the application if it is received by mail no later than five days after the close of the registration books before any election.

(2) If the county board of voter registration and elections determines that the applicant is qualified and his application is legible and complete, the board shall mail the voter written notification of approval on a form to be prescribed and provided by the State Election Commission pursuant to Section 7-5-180. When the county board of voter registration and elections mails the written notification of approval, it must do so without requiring the elector to sign anything in the presence of a member of the board, a deputy member, or a registration clerk, and the attestation of the elector's signature is not required so long as the conditions set forth above are met.

(3) Any application must be rejected for any of the following reasons:

(i) any portion of the application is not complete;

(ii) any portion of the application is illegible in the opinion of a member and the clerk of the board;

(iii) the board is unable to determine, from the address stated on the application, the precinct in which the voter should be assigned or the election districts in which he is entitled to vote.

(4) Any person whose application is rejected must be notified of the rejection together with the reason for rejection. The applicant must further be informed that he still has a right to register by appearing in person before the county board of voter registration and elections or by submitting the information by mail necessary to correct his rejected application. The form for notifying applicants of rejection must be prescribed and provided by the State Election Commission pursuant to Section 7-5-180.

(b) Every application for registration by mail shall contain spaces for the home and work telephone numbers of the applicant and the applicant shall enter the numbers on the application where applicable.

(c) The State Election Commission shall furnish a sufficient number of application forms to the county boards of voter registration and elections and voter registration agencies specified in Section 7-5-310(B) so that distribution of the application forms may be made to various locations throughout the counties and mailed to persons requesting them.

County boards of voter registration and elections shall distribute application forms to various locations in their respective counties, including city halls and public libraries, where they must be readily available to the public.

(d) The original applications must remain on file in the office of the county board of voter registration and elections.

(e) The State Election Commission may promulgate regulations to implement the provisions of this section.

HISTORY: 1986 Act No. 535, eff June 23, 1986; 1996 Act No. 466, Sections 4, 5, eff August 21, 1996.