0960-0706 supporting statement (REVISED)

SUPPORTING STATEMENT FOR THE

HELP AMERICA VOTE ACT (HAVA)

OMB No. 0960-0706

1. Justification

1. Introduction/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.

2. Description of Collection

H.R. 3295, the Help America Vote Act of 2002, mandates that States verify the identities of newly registered voters. 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 Number to their local State election agencies for verification. The election agencies forward this information to their State Motor Vehicle Administration (MVA), who inputs the data into the American Association of MVAs, a central consolidation system that routes the voter data to SSA’s Help America Vote Verification (HAVV) system. Once SSA’s HAVV system has confirmed identity of the voter, the information will return along the same route in reverse until it reaches the State election agency. The official respondents for this collection are the State MVAs.

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

In accordance with the agency’s Government Paperwork Elimination Act plan, SSA created an Internet version of HAVA. Based on our data, we estimate approximately 100% of respondents under this OMB number use the electronic version.

4. Why Duplicate Information Cannot Be Used

The nature of the information we are collecting and the manner in which we are collecting it preclude duplication. SSA does not use another collection instrument to obtain similar data.

5. How Burden on Small Respondents is Minimized

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

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

If we did not verify the identities of newly registered voters, we would be in violation of the HAVA legislation. Because we only collect the information on an as needed basis, we cannot collect it less frequently.

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

7. Special Circumstances

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

The 60-day advance Federal Register Notice published on June 01, 2011, at 76 FR 31671, and we received no public comments. The 30-day FRN published on

August 19, 2011, at 76 FR 52043. If we receive any comments in response to this 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 it collects in accordance with 42 U.S.C. 1306, 20 CFR 401 and 402, 5 U.S.C. 552 (Freedom of Information Act), 5 U.S.C. 552a (Privacy Act of 1974), and OMB Circular No. A-130.

9. Justification for Sensitive Questions

The information collection does not contain any questions of a sensitive nature.

9. Estimates of Public Reporting Burden

Forty-Eight State MVA’s participate in HAVA. Approximately 2,352,204 respondents take 2 minutes each to complete HAVA. Accordingly, the burden is 78,407 hours. This figure represents burden hours, and we do not calculate a separate cost burden.

13. Annual Cost to the Respondents (other)

There are 48 State MVAs participating in HAVA, each of whom pays 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.

13. Annual Cost to the Federal Government

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

13. Program Changes or Adjustments to the Information Collection Budget

There are no changes to the public reporting burden.

13. Plans for Publication of Results of Information Collection

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 approval 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 does not use statistical methods for this information collection.

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