16-142. Secretary of state; national voter registration act; uniformed and overseas citizens; voter fraud hotline

A. The secretary of state or the secretary's designee is:

1. The chief state election officer who is responsible for coordination of state responsibilities under the national voter registration act of 1993 (P.L. 103-31; 107 Stat. 77; 42 United States Code section 394) and under the uniformed and overseas citizens absentee voting act (42 United States Code section 1973).

2. Responsible for providing information on registration and absentee or early ballot procedures to absent uniformed services voters and overseas voters who wish to register to vote or vote in any jurisdiction in this state.

B. Not later than ninety days after the date of each regularly scheduled general election at which an election is held for federal office, the secretary of state shall submit a report to the election assistance commission established pursuant to the help America vote act of 2002 (P.L. 107-252) that includes information on the number of ballots transmitted to absent uniformed services voters and overseas voters and the number of ballots returned and cast in the election. The secretary of state shall prepare the report in cooperation and in conjunction with the county recorders and county officers in charge of elections. The report shall be made available to the public.

C. The secretary of state shall provide for a toll free telephone number for the use of the public to report incidents of voter fraud. To the extent permitted by federal law, the secretary of state may use monies received from the United States government pursuant to the help America vote act of 2002 (P.L. 107-252) to establish, staff and maintain the toll free telephone number and may also use those monies to defray the costs of any investigations arising from any reports received on the toll free telephone number.