Section 44.18. Affiliation on voter registration form.

  1.  A nonparty political organization that nominated a candidate whose name appeared on the general election ballot for a federal office, for governor, or for any other statewide elective office in any of the preceding ten years may request registration of voters showing their affiliation with the nonparty political organization pursuant to this section.

  2.  The organization shall file the following documents with the state registrar of voters on or before December 1 of an even-numbered year:

  a.  A petition in the form prescribed by the registrar and signed by no fewer than eight hundred fifty eligible electors residing in at least five counties in the state. The petition shall include the official name of the organization; the organization’s name as the organization requests it to appear on the voter registration form if different from the organization’s official name; and the name, address, and telephone number of the contact person for the organization. Each person who signs the petition shall include the person’s signature, printed name, residence address with house number, street name, city, and county, and the date the person signed the petition.

  b.  A copy of the nonparty political organization’s articles of incorporation, bylaws, constitution, or other document relating to establishment of the organization. Such copy shall be certified as a true copy of the original by the custodian of the original document.

  c.  An application form prescribed by the state registrar of voters. The form shall include all of the following:

  (1)  The official name of the nonparty political organization.

  (2)  The name, address, and telephone number of the contact person for the organization who is responsible for the application.

  (3)  The signature of the chief executive officer of the organization approving the application.

  (4)  The organization’s name as the organization requests it to appear on the voter registration form if different from the organization’s official name.

  3.  The nonparty political organization’s name and its name as listed on the voter registration form shall conform to the requirements of section 43.121. The registrar shall not invalidate the application solely because the registrar finds the official name of the organization or the name to be included on the voter registration form to be unacceptable. If the registrar finds the name to be unacceptable, the registrar shall contact the organization and provide assistance in identifying an appropriate official name for the organization and for identifying the organization on the voter registration form. A determination by the registrar that the official name or voter registration form name requested is acceptable for use within the voter registration system is final.

  4.  The registrar and the voter registration commission may require biennial filings to update contact information.

  5.  Beginning in January 2011, and each odd-numbered year thereafter, the registrar and the voter registration commission may review the number of voters registered as affiliated with a nonparty political organization. If the number of registrants, including both active and inactive voters, is fewer than 150, the commission shall declare the organization to be dormant for purposes of voter registration and may revise the voter registration form and instructions and electronic voter registration system to remove the organization from the list of nonparty political organizations with which a voter may register as affiliated. However, a change shall not be made to the record of political affiliation of individual registrants unless the registrant requests the change.

  6.  If a political party, as defined in section 43.2, fails to receive a sufficient number of votes in a general election to retain status as a political party and the former political party organizes as a nonparty political organization, the organization may request registration of voters showing their affiliation with the organization. A change shall not be made to the record of political party affiliation of individual registrants unless the registrant requests the change.

2008 Acts, ch 1115, §72