§3-2-29. Custody of original registration records.

(a) All original registration records in paper format shall remain in the custody of the county commission, by its clerk, or, electronically, in the statewide voter registration database and shall not be removed except for use in an election or by the order of a court of record or in compliance with a subpoena duces tecum issued by the Secretary of State pursuant to the provisions of section six, article one-a of this chapter.

(b) All original voter registration records shall be retained for a minimum of five years following the last recorded activity relating to the record, except that any application which duplicates and does not alter an existing registration shall be retained for a minimum of two years following its receipt: Provided, That following approval by the Secretary of State pursuant to subsection (c) of this section, the clerk of the county commission may destroy original registration records that have been retained for a period of time if an exact digital or facsimile copy of each of the records is made and stored in an electronic format in a secure manner on one or more servers under the control of the clerk of the county commission. Digital or facsimile copies may include but are not limited to PDF or JPEG formats. The Secretary of State shall promulgate rules pursuant to the provisions of chapter twenty-nine-a of this code for the specific retention times and procedures required for original voter registration records.

(c) Prior to the destruction of original voter registration applications or registration cards of voters whose registration has been canceled at least five years previously, the clerk of the county commission shall notify the Secretary of State of the intention to destroy those records. If the Secretary of State determines, within ninety days of the receipt of the notice, that those records are of sufficient historical value that microfilm or other permanent data storage is desirable, the Secretary of State may require that the records be delivered to a specified location for processing at state expense.

(d) Active, inactive, pending, rejected, and canceled registration records shall be maintained as a permanent record, as follows:

(1) Individual canceled registration records shall be maintained in the statewide voter registration database for a period of at least five years following cancellation. Upon the expiration of five years, those individual records may be removed from the statewide voter registration database and disposed of in accordance with the appropriate document retention policy.

(2) Rejected registration records shall be maintained in the same manner as provided for cancelled registration records.