0960-0706 supporting statement 2008 (HAVA)

SUPPORTING STATEMENT FOR THE

HELP AMERICA VOTE ACT (HAVA)

OMB No. 0960-0706

1. Justification

1. Authoring Laws and Regulations

On October 29, 2002, President George W. Bush signed into law H.R. 3295, the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (HAVA; later P.L. 107-252), which mandates that States must verify the identities of newly registered voters.

Section 303 of the law specifies an area requiring the Social Security Administration’s (SSA) involvement. Specifically, when newly registered voters do not have drivers’ licenses or State-issued ID cards, they must supply the last four digits of their Social Security Numbers to their local State election agencies for verification. The election agencies forward the new registrant candidate’s name, date of birth (DOB), and the last four digits of the SSN to their State Motor Vehicle Administration (MVA). The State MVAs input and route the data to the American Association of MVAs (AAMVA) as a consolidation point for data transfer. AAMVA forwards the transactions to SSA’s Help America Vote Verification (HAVV) system. Once SSA’s HAVV system verifies if the information provided is a “match” or “no match”, the information will return along the same route (in reverse) until it reaches the State election agency.

This ICR is for the collection of necessary identifying information from the newly registered voters who do not have drivers’ licenses or State-issued ID cards. However, the official respondents for this collection are the State MVAs.

2. How, by Whom and for What Purpose We Use the Information

SSA will verify the information provided by the State Election Agencies for newly registered voters who do not have a driver’s license or State ID. Ultimately, the State election agencies will use this information to ensure that the people who are registering to vote are legally allowed to do so. Specifics of this process follow.

Individuals registering to vote must provide their driver’s license number to the state election agency. If they have no driver’s license or state-issued identity card, they must supply the last four digits of the Social Security number (SSN). The State election agency will forward the new registration candidate’s name, date of birth (DOB), and the last four digits of the SSN to the State MVA.

SSA requires State MVAs to use the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrations (AAMVA) as a consolidation point for data transfer. The data, which the MVA inputs, routes the applicant’s information to the AAMVA network hub. AAMVA forwards the transaction to SSA’s Help America Vote Verification (HAVV) system. SSA will return the result (a match or no match of name, data of birth and last four digits of an SNN) to the AAMVA hub and then the State MVA, who will send it to the state election board.

SSA does not collect individual identifying information during these transactions. It only verifies the accuracy of the information provided using the following response codes:

Response Code	Definition
S	Invalid Data
T	Multi Matches All Deceased
V	Multi Matches All Alive
W	Multi Matches Mixed
X	Single Match Alive
Y	Single Match Deceased
Z	No Match Found
9	System Error:  Unable to Process at this Time

3. Use of Information Technology to Collect the Information

This information collection is a fully automated electronic process developed in compliance with the Agency’s Government Paperwork Elimination Act plan.

4. Why Duplicate Information Cannot Be Used

The nature of the information we are collecting (through the State MVAs) and the manner in which we are collecting it preclude duplication. SSA does not use another collection instrument to gather similar data.

5. How Burden on Small Respondents is Minimized

This collection does not impact small businesses or other small entities.

6. Consequence of Not Collecting Information or Collecting it Less Frequently

If SSA did not enable this information collection, we would be in violation of the HAVA legislation. Since we only collect the information when new voters register and do not have a driver’s license or State ID, we cannot conduct the information collection less frequently.

There are no technical or legal obstacles that prevent burden reduction.

7. Special Circumstances that Need to be Explained

There are no special circumstances that would cause us to conduct this information collection in a manner inconsistent with 5 CFR 1320.5.

8. Solicitation of Public Comment and Other Consultations with the Public

SSA published the 60-day advance Federal Register Notice on July 11, 2008, at 73 FR 40005, and we did not receive any public comments. We published the 30-day Federal Register Notice on October 2, 2008, at 73 FR 53919. If we receive any comments in response to the 30-day Notice, we will forward them to OMB.

We did not consult with members of the public in the maintenance of this information collection.

9. Payment or Gifts to Respondents

SSA does not provide payments or gifts to the respondents.

9. Assurances of Confidentiality

SSA protects and holds confidential the information we are requesting in accordance with 42 U.S.C. 1306, 20 CFR 401 and 402, 5 U.S.C. (Freedom of Information Act), 5 U.S.C. 552a (Privacy Act of 1974), and OMB Circular No. A-130.

9. Justification for Sensitive Questions

SSA does not ask any sensitive questions in this information collection.

9. Estimates of Public Reporting Burden

48 State MVAs submit a total of 2,352,204 verification requests annually, with each request taking about 2 minutes each. The total burden of 78,407 hours represents burden hours. The next question addresses the cost burden of this collection.

13. Annual Cost to the Respondents (other)

There are 48 State MVAs participating in HAVA, each of whom pay an annual maintenance cost of $4,000.00. Additionally, States pay .02 cents per verification request. The total cost to respondents is therefore $239,044.08 ([48 states x $4,000.00] + [2,352,204 requests x .02 cents]).

13. Annual Cost to the Federal Government

Since we bill States for using HAVA, this collection does not pose a recognizable cost to the Federal Government.

13. Program Changes or Adjustments to the Information Collection Budget

The number of responses increased from 110,000 to the current total of 2,352,204, resulting in a burden increase of 75,034 hours. The 110,000 figure dates back to 2005, when we first cleared this collection and relied on data indicating the burden would be low. After three years in use, we can now verify that the actual use of the system is much higher, resulting in the new burden figures reported here.

13. Plans for Publication of Results of Information Collection –

After evaluating the HAVA system results to determine the effectiveness of the verification process, SSA’s Commissioner will report them to Congress. However, SSA will not publish the results of the information collection.

17. Request not to Display OMB Expiration Date

SSA is not requesting an exception to the requirement to display the OMB expiration date.

17. Exceptions to Certification Statement

SSA is not requesting an exception to the certification requirements at 5 CFR 1320.9 and related provisions at 5 CFR 1320.8(b)(3).

2. Collection of Information Employing Statistical Methods

SSA is not using statistical methods for this information collection.

0960-0706 (HAVA)

2/4/2021

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