Notice and Request for Public Comment on State Requests To Include Additional Proof-of-Citizenship Instructions on the National Mail Voter Registration Form, 77666-77667 [2013-30659]
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Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 247 / Tuesday, December 24, 2013 / Notices
ELECTION ASSISTANCE COMMISSION
Notice and Request for Public
Comment on State Requests To
Include Additional Proof-of-Citizenship
Instructions on the National Mail Voter
Registration Form
U.S. Election Assistance
Commission (EAC).
ACTION: Notice for Public Comment.
AGENCY:
The United States Election
Assistance Commission (‘‘EAC’’) seeks
public comment on whether to amend
the State-specific instructions
applicable to Arizona, Kansas, and
Georgia on the National Mail Voter
Registration Form (‘‘Federal Form’’).
Those States have requested that the
EAC modify their State-specific
instructions on the Federal Form to
include State law requirements that, as
a precondition to registering to vote in
Federal elections, voter registration
applicants provide additional proof of
their United States citizenship beyond
that already required by the Federal
Form. EAC is voluntarily soliciting
public comment on these requests from
Arizona, Kansas, and Georgia.
DATES: Comments must be in writing
and must be submitted no later than
5:00 p.m. EST on January 3, 2014.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments,
identified by docket number EAC–
2013–0004 and title, by any of the
following methods:
Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://
www.regulations.gov. Follow the online
instructions for submitting comments.
Do not submit electronically any
personally identifiable information
(such as full Social Security numbers,
full dates of birth, and full driver’s
license numbers) if its disclosure is
restricted by statute. Such information
should be redacted to include only the
last four digits of an individual’s Social
Security number or other taxpayer
identification number, driver’s license
number, or account number, and only
the year of an individual’s birth.
Mail or Courier Delivery: ATTN:
NVRA Federal Form Comments, U.S.
Election Assistance Commission, 1335
East West Highway, Suite 4300, Silver
Spring, MD 20910. Please do not send
duplicate copies via mail or courier of
comments that were submitted
electronically via the Federal
eRulemaking Portal.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms.
Karen Lynn-Dyson, Director, Office of
Research, Policy, and Programs, at (301)
563–3919 or 1–866–747–1471 (toll-free),
U.S. Election Assistance Commission,
1335 East West Highway, Suite 4300,
Silver Spring, MD 20910.
emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with NOTICES
SUMMARY:
VerDate Mar<15>2010
16:36 Dec 23, 2013
Jkt 232001
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background: The EAC is the Federal
agency charged with developing,
maintaining, and, where necessary,
modifying the National Mail Voter
Registration Form mandated by Section
9(a) of the National Voter Registration
Act of 1993 (‘‘NVRA’’), 42 U.S.C.
1973gg–7(a). Pursuant to Sections
4(a)(2) and 6(a) of the NVRA, id.
§§ 1973gg–2(a)(2) and 1973gg–4(a),
States covered by the NVRA must
accept and use the Federal Form for
registration of voters in elections for
Federal office.
As originally enacted, the NVRA
assigned authority to the Federal
Election Commission ‘‘in consultation
with the chief election officers of the
States’’ to ‘‘develop a mail voter
registration application form’’ and to
‘‘prescribe such regulations as are
necessary to carry out’’ this
responsibility. 42 U.S.C. 1973gg–7(a).
The FEC undertook this responsibility,
in consultation with the States, and
issued the original regulations on the
Federal Form in 1994. NVRA Final Rule
Notice, 59 FR 32,311 (June 23, 1994). In
the Help America Vote Act of 2002
(‘‘HAVA’’), the FEC’s responsibilities
regarding the Federal Form were
transferred to the EAC. 42 U.S.C. 15532.
The EAC’s discretion in developing
the content of the Federal Form is
constrained by several statutory
requirements, including those found in
Section 9(b) of the NVRA, 42 U.S.C.
1973gg-7(b), and Section 303(b)(4) of
HAVA, id. § 15483(b)(4). The EAC has
promulgated regulations that further
delineate the contents and format of the
Federal Form. See 11 CFR Part 9428,
Subpart B. The EAC commissioners
have delegated to the Executive Director
of the EAC the day-to-day
responsibilities of implementing and
interpreting EAC regulations and policy,
answering questions from stakeholders
regarding the application of NVRA or
HAVA, and maintaining the Federal
Form consistent with the NVRA and
EAC Regulations and policies.
State Requests to Modify StateSpecific Instructions: The chief election
official of each State is responsible for
notifying the EAC within 30 days of any
change in the State’s voter eligibility
requirements or any other information
reported under 11 CFR 9428.6. Pursuant
to those requirements, the FEC and later
the EAC received numerous requests
over the years from States to modify the
Federal Form’s State-specific
instructions in various respects.
In recent years, the EAC has received
requests from three States to include
State-specific instructions on the
Federal Form requiring voter
PO 00000
Frm 00024
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
registration applicants from their states
to supply additional proof of their
United States citizenship as a
precondition to registration. These
changes were requested as a result of the
passage of State laws requiring such
additional proof of citizenship. Arizona
first submitted its request to the EAC to
include such an instruction in 2005, as
a result of the State’s passage in 2004 of
a voter initiative known as Proposition
200, later codified at Ariz. Rev. Stat
§ 16–166(F). Kansas first submitted its
request to the EAC to include such
instructions in 2012, as a result of the
State’s passage in 2011 of amendments
to its voter registration laws, codified at
Kan. Stat. Ann. § 25–2309(l). Georgia
first submitted its request to the EAC to
include such instructions in 2013, as a
result of the State’s passage in 2009 of
amendments to its voter registration
laws, codified at Ga. Code Ann. § 21–2–
216(g).
On March 6, 2006, the EAC denied
Arizona’s original 2005 request to
include additional proof of citizenship
instructions on the Federal Form,
finding that the form already required
applicants to attest to their citizenship
under penalty of perjury and to
complete a mandatory checkbox
indicating that they are citizens of the
United States. The EAC also found that
Congress had specifically considered
but ultimately rejected a provision in
the NVRA that would have allowed
states to require documentary proof of
citizenship, because such a provision
was, in Congress’s words, ‘‘not
necessary or consistent with the
purposes of’’ the NVRA. On the basis of
these findings, the EAC concluded that
Arizona’s proof of citizenship law was
preempted by Federal law, and that
Arizona must accept the Federal Form
for voter registration in Federal
elections, without requiring additional
proof of citizenship.
In July 2006, after receiving a request
from Arizona’s Secretary of State, the
EAC’s then-chairman requested that the
EAC commissioners grant an
accommodation to Arizona by
reconsidering the Executive Director’s
March 6, 2006, final decision on behalf
of the agency and granting Arizona’s
request to include its requested proof-ofcitizenship instructions in the Statespecific instructions on the Federal
Form. On July 11, 2006, the EAC
commissioners denied the chairman’s
motion for an accommodation by a tie
vote of 2–2.
Private parties filed litigation against
Arizona, challenging, among other
issues, Arizona’s compliance with the
NVRA, and this litigation reached the
Supreme Court during the 2012 Term.
E:\FR\FM\24DEN1.SGM
24DEN1
emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 247 / Tuesday, December 24, 2013 / Notices
In June 2013, the Supreme Court ruled
that the NVRA preempts inconsistent
State law and States must accept and
use the Federal Form for voter
registration purposes in elections for
Federal office. Arizona v. Inter Tribal
Council of Arizona, Inc., ll
U.S. ll, 133 S. Ct. 2247, 2253–60
(2013) (hereinafter ‘‘Inter Tribal
Council’’).
The EAC deferred consideration of the
requests by Kansas and Georgia
pursuant to internal operating
procedures put in place in 2011 by the
former EAC Executive Director. These
procedures provided that requests that
‘‘raise issues of broad policy concerns to
more than one state’’ would be deferred
until the EAC regained a quorum of its
commissioners, so that they would have
the opportunity, if they desired, to
provide additional policy guidance to
the Executive Director and staff.
Currently all four seats on the EAC are
vacant.
Following the Supreme Court’s
decision in Inter Tribal Council in June
2013, Arizona and Kansas renewed their
requests to the EAC to change the Statespecific instructions on the Federal
Form to include additional proof-ofcitizenship requirements, and the EAC
likewise deferred those renewed
requests, in accordance with the 2011
EAC internal procedures. Kansas and
Arizona officials then initiated litigation
against the EAC in the United States
District Court for the District of Kansas,
challenging the EAC’s deferral of these
requests. See Kobach v. EAC, No. 5:13–
cv–4095 (D. Kan. filed Aug. 21, 2013).
On December 13, 2013, as part of this
litigation, the district court remanded
the Kansas and Arizona matters to the
EAC with instructions that the EAC
render a final agency action on the
Kansas and Arizona requests to change
the Federal Form by no later than
January 17, 2014. The Court’s order
provided that if the EAC has not acted
by January 17, 2014, the States’ requests
will be deemed by the Court to have
been denied. The Georgia request is not
part of this pending federal court
litigation.
Request for Public Comments: The
EAC invites public comments on the
requests from Arizona, Kansas and
Georgia to modify the State-specific
instructions for those States on the
Federal Form to require additional proof
of citizenship under their respective
state laws beyond the existing
requirements on the Federal Form. The
EAC invites public comments on any
issues that commenters believe are
relevant to the EAC’s consideration of
these State requests. Comments must be
in writing and must be submitted no
VerDate Mar<15>2010
17:58 Dec 23, 2013
Jkt 232001
later than 5:00 p.m. EST on January 3,
2014.
Dated: December 19, 2013.
Alice Miller,
Chief Operating Officer and Acting Executive
Director, U.S. Election Assistance
Commission.
[FR Doc. 2013–30659 Filed 12–23–13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6820–KF–P
DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Proposed Agency Information
Collection Extension With Changes
U.S. Energy Information
Administration (EIA), U.S. Department
of Energy.
ACTION: Notice and Request for OMB
Review and Comment.
AGENCY:
EIA has submitted an
information collection request to the
OMB for extension with changes, under
the provisions of the Paperwork
Reduction Act of 1995, for the
Electricity and Renewable Power
Surveys (OMB Control Number 1905–
0129) information collection. EIA
requests a three-year clearance with
changes for the following existing forms:
D Form EIA–411, ‘‘Coordinated Bulk
Power Supply Program Report’’
D Form EIA–826, ‘‘Monthly Electric
Utility Sales and Revenue Report with
State Distributions’’
D Form EIA–860, ‘‘Annual Electric
Generator Report’’
D Form EIA–860M, ‘‘Monthly Update
to the Annual Electric Generator
Report’’
D Form EIA–861, ‘‘Annual Electric
Power Industry Report’’
D Form EIA–861S, ‘‘Annual Electric
Power Industry Report (Short Form)’’
D Form EIA–923, ‘‘Power Plant
Operations Report’’ and
the addition of a new survey, Form EIA–
930, ‘‘Balancing Authority Operations
Report’’ under OMB Control Number
1905–0129.
EIA also proposes to discontinue
OMB Control Number 1905–0196 for the
Solar Information Collection. This
collection includes the Form EIA–63A
(Annual Solar Thermal Collector/
Reflector Shipments Report), Form EIA–
63B (Annual Photovoltaic Module/Cell
Shipments Report), and Form EIA–902
(Annual Geothermal Heat Pump
Shipments Report). The current
approval will expire on December 31,
2013. EIA does not plan to collect data
on the Forms EIA–63A and EIA–902
and proposes to transfer the Form EIA–
63B to the Electric Power Information
Collection (OMB Control Number 1905–
0129).
SUMMARY:
PO 00000
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Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
77667
Comments regarding this
collection must be received on or before
January 23, 2014. If you anticipate that
you will be submitting comments, but
find it difficult to do so within the
period of time allowed by this notice,
please advise the DOE Desk Officer at
OMB of your intention to make a
submission as soon as possible. The
Desk Officer may be telephoned at 202–
395–4718 or contacted by email at
Chad_S_Whiteman@omb.eop.gov.
ADDRESSES: Written comments should
be sent to the
DOE Desk Officer, Office of
Information and Regulatory Affairs,
Office of Management and Budget, New
Executive Office Building, Room 10102,
735 17th Street NW., Washington, DC
20503, Chad_S_Whiteman@
omb.eop.gov.
And to Rebecca Peterson, U.S. Energy
Information Administration, Mail Stop
EI–23, Forrestal Building, 1000
Independence Avenue SW.,
Washington, DC 20585, erus2014@
eia.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Direct any requests for additional
information or copies of the information
collection instrument and instructions
to Rebecca Peterson at erus2014@
eia.gov, or at 202–586–4509. The
collection instrument and instructions
are also available on the Internet at:
https://www.eia.gov/survey/changes/
electricity/.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This
information collection request contains:
(1) OMB No.: 1905–0129;
(2) Information Collection Request
Title: Electricity and Renewables Power
Surveys;
(3) Type of Request: Extension, with
changes of a currently approved
collection;
(4) Purpose: The electricity and
renewables surveys collect data from
entities involved in the production,
transmission, delivery, and sale of
electricity, and in maintaining the
reliable operation of the power system.
The data collected are the primary
source of information on the nation’s
electric power industry. EIA uses the
data collected on the electric power
surveys to answer queries from the U.S.
Congress, other federal and state
agencies, the electric power industry,
and the public; and as input to the
National Energy Modeling System
(NEMS) and to EIA’s other forecasting
and analytical activities. Other users of
the data include policy makers,
regulators, energy market analysts, and
the energy industries.
EIA proposes that the existing Form
EIA–63B, ‘‘Annual Photovoltaic Cell/
DATES:
E:\FR\FM\24DEN1.SGM
24DEN1
Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 247 (Tuesday, December 24, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 77666-77667]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-30659]
[[Page 77666]]
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ELECTION ASSISTANCE COMMISSION
Notice and Request for Public Comment on State Requests To
Include Additional Proof-of-Citizenship Instructions on the National
Mail Voter Registration Form
AGENCY: U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC).
ACTION: Notice for Public Comment.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The United States Election Assistance Commission (``EAC'')
seeks public comment on whether to amend the State-specific
instructions applicable to Arizona, Kansas, and Georgia on the National
Mail Voter Registration Form (``Federal Form''). Those States have
requested that the EAC modify their State-specific instructions on the
Federal Form to include State law requirements that, as a precondition
to registering to vote in Federal elections, voter registration
applicants provide additional proof of their United States citizenship
beyond that already required by the Federal Form. EAC is voluntarily
soliciting public comment on these requests from Arizona, Kansas, and
Georgia.
DATES: Comments must be in writing and must be submitted no later than
5:00 p.m. EST on January 3, 2014.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by docket number EAC-
2013-0004 and title, by any of the following methods:
Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov. Follow the
online instructions for submitting comments. Do not submit
electronically any personally identifiable information (such as full
Social Security numbers, full dates of birth, and full driver's license
numbers) if its disclosure is restricted by statute. Such information
should be redacted to include only the last four digits of an
individual's Social Security number or other taxpayer identification
number, driver's license number, or account number, and only the year
of an individual's birth.
Mail or Courier Delivery: ATTN: NVRA Federal Form Comments, U.S.
Election Assistance Commission, 1335 East West Highway, Suite 4300,
Silver Spring, MD 20910. Please do not send duplicate copies via mail
or courier of comments that were submitted electronically via the
Federal eRulemaking Portal.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Karen Lynn-Dyson, Director,
Office of Research, Policy, and Programs, at (301) 563-3919 or 1-866-
747-1471 (toll-free), U.S. Election Assistance Commission, 1335 East
West Highway, Suite 4300, Silver Spring, MD 20910.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background: The EAC is the Federal agency charged with developing,
maintaining, and, where necessary, modifying the National Mail Voter
Registration Form mandated by Section 9(a) of the National Voter
Registration Act of 1993 (``NVRA''), 42 U.S.C. 1973gg-7(a). Pursuant to
Sections 4(a)(2) and 6(a) of the NVRA, id. Sec. Sec. 1973gg-2(a)(2)
and 1973gg-4(a), States covered by the NVRA must accept and use the
Federal Form for registration of voters in elections for Federal
office.
As originally enacted, the NVRA assigned authority to the Federal
Election Commission ``in consultation with the chief election officers
of the States'' to ``develop a mail voter registration application
form'' and to ``prescribe such regulations as are necessary to carry
out'' this responsibility. 42 U.S.C. 1973gg-7(a). The FEC undertook
this responsibility, in consultation with the States, and issued the
original regulations on the Federal Form in 1994. NVRA Final Rule
Notice, 59 FR 32,311 (June 23, 1994). In the Help America Vote Act of
2002 (``HAVA''), the FEC's responsibilities regarding the Federal Form
were transferred to the EAC. 42 U.S.C. 15532.
The EAC's discretion in developing the content of the Federal Form
is constrained by several statutory requirements, including those found
in Section 9(b) of the NVRA, 42 U.S.C. 1973gg-7(b), and Section
303(b)(4) of HAVA, id. Sec. 15483(b)(4). The EAC has promulgated
regulations that further delineate the contents and format of the
Federal Form. See 11 CFR Part 9428, Subpart B. The EAC commissioners
have delegated to the Executive Director of the EAC the day-to-day
responsibilities of implementing and interpreting EAC regulations and
policy, answering questions from stakeholders regarding the application
of NVRA or HAVA, and maintaining the Federal Form consistent with the
NVRA and EAC Regulations and policies.
State Requests to Modify State-Specific Instructions: The chief
election official of each State is responsible for notifying the EAC
within 30 days of any change in the State's voter eligibility
requirements or any other information reported under 11 CFR 9428.6.
Pursuant to those requirements, the FEC and later the EAC received
numerous requests over the years from States to modify the Federal
Form's State-specific instructions in various respects.
In recent years, the EAC has received requests from three States to
include State-specific instructions on the Federal Form requiring voter
registration applicants from their states to supply additional proof of
their United States citizenship as a precondition to registration.
These changes were requested as a result of the passage of State laws
requiring such additional proof of citizenship. Arizona first submitted
its request to the EAC to include such an instruction in 2005, as a
result of the State's passage in 2004 of a voter initiative known as
Proposition 200, later codified at Ariz. Rev. Stat Sec. 16-166(F).
Kansas first submitted its request to the EAC to include such
instructions in 2012, as a result of the State's passage in 2011 of
amendments to its voter registration laws, codified at Kan. Stat. Ann.
Sec. 25-2309(l). Georgia first submitted its request to the EAC to
include such instructions in 2013, as a result of the State's passage
in 2009 of amendments to its voter registration laws, codified at Ga.
Code Ann. Sec. 21-2-216(g).
On March 6, 2006, the EAC denied Arizona's original 2005 request to
include additional proof of citizenship instructions on the Federal
Form, finding that the form already required applicants to attest to
their citizenship under penalty of perjury and to complete a mandatory
checkbox indicating that they are citizens of the United States. The
EAC also found that Congress had specifically considered but ultimately
rejected a provision in the NVRA that would have allowed states to
require documentary proof of citizenship, because such a provision was,
in Congress's words, ``not necessary or consistent with the purposes
of'' the NVRA. On the basis of these findings, the EAC concluded that
Arizona's proof of citizenship law was preempted by Federal law, and
that Arizona must accept the Federal Form for voter registration in
Federal elections, without requiring additional proof of citizenship.
In July 2006, after receiving a request from Arizona's Secretary of
State, the EAC's then-chairman requested that the EAC commissioners
grant an accommodation to Arizona by reconsidering the Executive
Director's March 6, 2006, final decision on behalf of the agency and
granting Arizona's request to include its requested proof-of-
citizenship instructions in the State-specific instructions on the
Federal Form. On July 11, 2006, the EAC commissioners denied the
chairman's motion for an accommodation by a tie vote of 2-2.
Private parties filed litigation against Arizona, challenging,
among other issues, Arizona's compliance with the NVRA, and this
litigation reached the Supreme Court during the 2012 Term.
[[Page 77667]]
In June 2013, the Supreme Court ruled that the NVRA preempts
inconsistent State law and States must accept and use the Federal Form
for voter registration purposes in elections for Federal office.
Arizona v. Inter Tribal Council of Arizona, Inc., ---- U.S. ----, 133
S. Ct. 2247, 2253-60 (2013) (hereinafter ``Inter Tribal Council'').
The EAC deferred consideration of the requests by Kansas and
Georgia pursuant to internal operating procedures put in place in 2011
by the former EAC Executive Director. These procedures provided that
requests that ``raise issues of broad policy concerns to more than one
state'' would be deferred until the EAC regained a quorum of its
commissioners, so that they would have the opportunity, if they
desired, to provide additional policy guidance to the Executive
Director and staff. Currently all four seats on the EAC are vacant.
Following the Supreme Court's decision in Inter Tribal Council in
June 2013, Arizona and Kansas renewed their requests to the EAC to
change the State-specific instructions on the Federal Form to include
additional proof-of-citizenship requirements, and the EAC likewise
deferred those renewed requests, in accordance with the 2011 EAC
internal procedures. Kansas and Arizona officials then initiated
litigation against the EAC in the United States District Court for the
District of Kansas, challenging the EAC's deferral of these requests.
See Kobach v. EAC, No. 5:13-cv-4095 (D. Kan. filed Aug. 21, 2013). On
December 13, 2013, as part of this litigation, the district court
remanded the Kansas and Arizona matters to the EAC with instructions
that the EAC render a final agency action on the Kansas and Arizona
requests to change the Federal Form by no later than January 17, 2014.
The Court's order provided that if the EAC has not acted by January 17,
2014, the States' requests will be deemed by the Court to have been
denied. The Georgia request is not part of this pending federal court
litigation.
Request for Public Comments: The EAC invites public comments on the
requests from Arizona, Kansas and Georgia to modify the State-specific
instructions for those States on the Federal Form to require additional
proof of citizenship under their respective state laws beyond the
existing requirements on the Federal Form. The EAC invites public
comments on any issues that commenters believe are relevant to the
EAC's consideration of these State requests. Comments must be in
writing and must be submitted no later than 5:00 p.m. EST on January 3,
2014.
Dated: December 19, 2013.
Alice Miller,
Chief Operating Officer and Acting Executive Director, U.S. Election
Assistance Commission.
[FR Doc. 2013-30659 Filed 12-23-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6820-KF-P