(A) A person who is qualified to register to vote and who has a valid South Carolina driver's license or state identification card issued by the Department of Motor Vehicles may submit an application for voter registration electronically on the Internet website of the State Election Commission.

(B)(1) An application submitted pursuant to this section is effective upon receipt of the application by the State Election Commission if the application is received thirty days before an election to be held in the precinct of the person submitting the application.

(2) The applicant shall attest to the truth of the information provided in the application.

(3) For voter registration purposes, the applicant shall assent to the use of his signature from his driver's license or state identification card issued by the Department of Motor Vehicles.

(4) For each electronic application, the State Election Commission shall obtain an electronic copy of the applicant's signature from his driver's license or state identification card issued by the Department of Motor Vehicles directly from the Department of Motor Vehicles with no fee.

(5) An application submitted pursuant to this section must contain the applicant's name, sex, race, social security number, date of birth, residence address, mailing address, telephone number of the applicant, and location of prior voter registration. The applicant must affirm that he is not under a court order declaring him mentally incompetent, confined in a public prison, has never been convicted of a felony or offense against the election laws, or if previously convicted, that he has served his entire sentence, including probation and parole time, or has received a pardon for the conviction. Additionally, the applicant must attest to the following: "I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I am a citizen of the United States and that on the date of the next ensuing election, I will have attained the age of eighteen years and am a resident of South Carolina, this county, and of my precinct. I further swear (or affirm) that the present residence address listed herein is my sole legal place of residence and that I claim no other place as my legal residence." An applicant convicted of fraudulently applying for registration is guilty of perjury and is subject to the penalty for that offense.

(C) Upon submission of an application pursuant to this section, the electronic voter registration system shall provide immediate verification that the:

(1) applicant has a South Carolina driver's license or state identification card issued by the Department of Motor Vehicles and that the number for that driver's license or identification card provided by the applicant matches the number for that person's driver's license or state identification card that is on file with the Department of Motor Vehicles;

(2) date of birth provided by the applicant matches the date of birth for that person, which is on file with the Department of Motor Vehicles;

(3) name provided by the applicant matches the name for the person which is on file with the Department of Motor Vehicles; and

(4) State Election Commission employs security measures to ensure the accuracy and integrity of voter registration applications submitted electronically pursuant to this section.

(D) Should there be a failure to match any of the information required in this section with the Department of Motor Vehicles, the State Election Commission immediately shall notify the applicant of the failure to match information and inform the applicant that his application for registration was not accepted.

(E) The State Election Commission may promulgate regulations necessary to effectuate the provisions of this section.

HISTORY: 2012 Act No. 265, Section 2, eff upon preclearance approval or declaratory judgment.

Editor's Note

2012 Act No. 265, Section 9, provides as follows:

"This act takes effect upon preclearance approval by the United States Department of Justice or approval by a declaratory judgment issued by the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, whichever occurs first."

Preclearance approval for 2012 Act No. 265 was received on October 1, 2012.