The General Assembly shall provide by law for the registration of all persons otherwise qualified to vote who have met the residence requirements contained in this Article, and shall ensure that the opportunity to register is made available. Registrations accomplished prior to the effective date of this section shall be effective hereunder. The registration records shall not be closed to new or transferred registrations more than thirty days before the election in which they are to be used.

Applications to register shall require the applicant to provide the following information on a standard form: full name; date of birth; residence address; social security number, if any; whether the applicant is presently a United States citizen; and such additional information as may be required by law. All applications to register shall be completed by or at the direction of the applicant and signed by the applicant, unless physically disabled. No fee shall be charged to the applicant incident to an application to register.

Nothing in this Article shall preclude the General Assembly from requiring as a prerequisite to registration to vote the ability of the applicant to read and complete in his own handwriting the application to register.

The amendment ratified November 2, 1976 and effective January 1, 1977—In paragraph two, substituted “date of residence in the precinct” for “length of residence in the Commonwealth and in the precinct” and removed “time” of any previous registrations to vote.

The amendment ratified November 2, 1982 and effective January 1, 1983—In paragraph two, after “maiden”, added “and any other prior legal” and deleted “of a woman, if married”, and after “birth;” deleted “marital status; occupation;”.

The amendment ratified November 8, 1994 and effective January 1, 1995—In paragraph two, after “to provide”, deleted “under oath”, after “has been restored.”, deleted “Except as otherwise provided in this Constitution,”, and after “shall be completed”, deleted “in person before the registrar and”.

The amendment ratified November 5, 1996 and effective January 1, 1997—In paragraph two, after “full name”, deleted “, including the maiden and any other prior legal name; age”; after “date”, deleted “and place”; added “residence address;” after “of birth;”; and substituted “and such additional information as may be required by law” for “address and place of abode and date of residence in the precinct; place of any previous registrations to vote; and whether the applicant has ever been adjudicated to be mentally incompetent or convicted of a felony, and if so, under what circumstances the applicant’s right to vote has been restored”.