Provides for the verification of citizenship of registered voters (EG NO IMPACT See Note)

House Bill 691 establishes a new statutory framework under R.S. 18:49.2 requiring Louisiana's Secretary of State to participate in the federal Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements program, commonly known as SAVE, administered by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The bill mandates that the Secretary of State submit voter registration data on all registrants for whom adequate state data exists to SAVE on an annual basis, with submissions occurring at least 180 days prior to each regularly scheduled federal general election. When SAVE identifies potential noncitizen registrants, the Secretary of State must forward those names to the state's Division of Election Integrity for investigation. If the Division determines that a potential noncitizen registrant may exist in the voter registration system, it must submit its investigatory findings to the appropriate prosecutorial agency for further investigation or prosecution. Once the Division of Election Integrity verifies noncitizen matches, the Secretary of State must transmit verified matches to the appropriate parish registrar of voters to initiate challenge and cancellation proceedings under existing Louisiana law procedures set forth in R.S. 18:193.

The practical effect of this legislation extends to the Secretary of State, parish registrars of voters, the Division of Election Integrity, and various prosecutorial agencies. The Secretary of State assumes responsibility for annual data submissions and coordination among state agencies. Parish registrars gain the authority to challenge voter registrations identified through the SAVE verification process. The Division of Election Integrity will conduct investigations into individuals flagged as potential noncitizens, requiring allocation of investigative resources. Registered voters who are identified as potential noncitizens will face investigation and potential removal from the voter rolls through challenge and cancellation proceedings. The bill also creates new reporting obligations requiring the Secretary of State to include in its annual report to the legislature specific statistics on the number of records checked against SAVE data, the number of registrants challenged as potential noncitizens, the number of registrations cancelled, and recommendations for improvements to voter registration list accuracy.

The legislation operates within the existing Louisiana election law framework codified in Title 18 of the Revised Statutes, specifically coordinating with R.S. 18:193 governing challenge and cancellation of voter registrations and R.S. 18:154 addressing data protection standards. The bill integrates with the Secretary of State's existing duty under R.S. 18:18(A)(4) to provide annual reports to the legislature on voter registration statistics. SAVE itself is a federal program operated by the Department of Homeland Security that verifies immigration and citizenship status by checking against federal records. The bill conditions implementation on SAVE remaining available to Louisiana at no cost or upon legislative appropriation of funds to cover program participation costs. Data handling requirements specify that all SAVE data and related voter information must be processed in a secure environment consistent with applicable state and federal data protection standards and in accordance with Louisiana's Public Records Law, ensuring compliance with constitutional protections regarding privacy and due process in the registration and voting context.