Image courtesy of the office of Rep. Pat Proctor

State Representative Pat Proctor, chairman of the House Elections Committee, has moved HB 2437 forward out of committee. The bill, titled Authorizing the Use of Additional Resources for Verifying Voter Registration Records, would allow the Secretary of State and county election officials to access new data sources to confirm voter eligibility, helping to more efficiently remove voters who have died or changed residences from the voter rolls.

“What we’ve done with House Bill 2437 that just passed out of the committee, is first, we allow family members to come in and sign a sworn statement that says my loved one has passed away so the court can take them off the voter rolls,” said Rep. Proctor. “But also, we’ve authorized the Secretary of State’s office to work with the credit rating agencies so they can compare our voter rolls to their records to make sure we get deceased voters off of the voter rolls.”

HB 2437 seeks to improve the accuracy of voter registration by giving election officials and the Secretary of State expanded tools to verify voter eligibility, including the use of additional public and private data sources, while also allowing family members to help remove deceased voters. The bill includes safeguards to protect sensitive information used in the verification process.