2010 Election Administration and Voting Survey

U.S. ELECTION ASSISTANCE COMMISSION

2010 Election Administration & Voting Survey

Statutory Overview

In order to better understand state laws governing federal elections, the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, as part of its biennial Election Administration and Voting Survey, is collecting information on state election laws and procedures. These answers will help EAC to better understand the quantitative data relating to the 2010 general election that we are collecting from all U.S. states and territories.

EAC understands that responding to this Statutory Overview may require significant staff time on the part of your office. Please be assured that we have attempted to minimize the burden, and we appreciate your cooperation in this very important project.

Information Supplied By
Name
Title
Office/Agency Name
Address 1
Address 2
City
State
Zip Code
Email Address
Telephone (area Code and number)
Fax Number (area code and number)

DIRECTIONS AND EXAMPLE

Please provide your state’s legal citation for the responses to these questions (where applicable).

Please answer each question to the best of your ability. If terms are ambiguous or not relevant, please explain why. If a question is not applicable to your state, please explain why. If a definition or term lacks statutory reference but is widely understood in practice, please explain. If election procedures vary at the local level within your state, please explain to the best of your ability.

If state laws are currently enjoined or otherwise blocked from enforcement by a state or federal court, or executive decision, please specify.

Please put your responses between the red, bracketed text lines. This will help us extract your answers into our central database.

Example:

A1. How does your state define the following terms related to votes and ballots? Please provide your state’s legal citation defining these terms, where applicable.

1. Over-vote

[Begin definition (a) below this line.]

Your answer goes here. You may enter the text directly, or cut and paste from another word processing program.

There is no limit to the length of your response.

[End definition (a) above this line.]

SECTION A: GENERAL

A1. How does your state define the following terms related to votes and ballots? Please provide your state’s legal citation defining these terms, where applicable.

1. Over-vote

2. Under-vote

3. Blank ballot

4. Void/Spoiled ballot

5. Provisional/Challenged ballot

6. Absentee

7. Early voting

8. Active Voter

9. Inactive Voter

10. Other terms (please specify) ________________

A2. Please provide the legal citation for any significant changes to election laws or procedures that have been enacted or adopted since the previous Federal election. “Significant” does not include routine or technical changes (such as changes to election district boundaries or polling place changes). However, EAC would like to learn about any new identification requirements for voters or registrants; changes in eligibility for voting or registering; adoption of alternative voting methods; and other changes that you believe represent a significant change in the way your state runs its elections.

SECTION B: VOTER REGISTRATION

B1. Is your state’s voter registration database system best described as a bottom-up, a top-down, or a hybrid? (Note: A bottom-up system generally uploads information retained at the local level and compiled at regular intervals to form the statewide voter registration list. A top-down system is hosted on a single, central platform/mainframe and is generally maintained by the state with information supplied by local jurisdictions. A hybrid is some combination of both systems described above.)

If your state uses a bottom-up or hybrid system, how often do local jurisdictions transmit registration information to the state list?

B2. Please describe the process used in your state to move voters from the active list to the inactive list, and from the inactive list to the active list. Is a different process used for UOCAVA voters?

B3. Please describe your state’s process for removing voters from the voter registration rolls (not merely moving them from active to inactive). Please include information regarding notices and confirmations. Are these procedures the same for UOCAVA voters?

B4. Can your state’s voter registration database (or equivalent) share information electronically with your state’s drivers license agency (for example, to match records or trace changes in address)? Can your voter registration database be similarly linked with databases in any other state or federal agencies? Please describe these links, including any use of database matching to verify voter registration applications.

B5. Please describe how your state uses National Change of Address (NCOA). What has been your state’s experience with NCOA?

B6. Please describe your state’s voting eligibility requirements as they relate to individuals with a felony conviction. (For example, are convicted felons allowed to vote while in prison or while on parole or probation? Are voting rights automatically restored or does the individual have to apply for a pardon, certificate of eligibility or other similar certificate? Does an individual whose voting rights have been restored have to produce documentation of his/her status when registering to vote?)

B7. Does your state currently use the Internet in any way to facilitate voter registration? If yes, please describe how your state allows voters to use the Internet in the registration process (e.g., entire registration completed online; completed online but then must be printed, signed, and mailed by voter, etc.).

SECTION C: ELECTION ADMINISTRATION

C1. Please describe how all votes cast at a place other than the voter’s precinct of registration are tabulated (for example, please include descriptions of such votes as absentee ballots, mail-in ballots, votes cast at vote centers, provisional ballots, early voting locations, etc.).

1. Are the votes counted centrally or at the precincts?

b. If centrally tabulated, are the votes redirected to the appropriate

precinct for reporting in the canvass?

c. Are the absentee, mail, etc., votes reported separately for each precinct,

or are they added to the in-precinct results and reported as just a single

number?

d. How are UOCAVA ballots counted and reported?

C2. Does your state require a reason for voting absentee, or does your state allow no-excuse absentee voting? (If a reason is required, please provide the legal citation.)

C3. Does your state provide for in-person early voting? If so, how is early voting defined? When early voting is used, are the ballots counted at the precinct or at a central location? How are these votes reported?

C4. Do any jurisdictions in your state use a vote-by-mail system to replace (and not merely supplement) at-the-precinct voting in any elections?

C5. Please list each of the situations that require a provisional ballot in your state. Please provide the relevant legal citation for each situation.

C6. Does your state count provisional ballots of voters who are registered in different precincts, or are those ballots automatically rejected? Please describe the process used by local election officials in determining whether to count a provisional ballot.

C7. Please describe your state’s laws regarding post-election audits, if any.

C8. Please describe any state requirements for poll worker training.

SECTION D: ELECTION DAY ACTIVITIES

D1. Please describe your state’s process for capturing “over-vote” and “under-vote” counts.

D2. What identification does your state require from voters in the following situations:

1. registering to vote;

2. casting an in-person ballot;

3. casting a mail-in or absentee vote;

4. casting a ballot under UOCAVA;

5. any other stage in registration or voting process in which identification is required (please specify).

D3. Please describe your state’s laws regarding access to the polling place for election observers. Election observers are people allowed inside the polling place who are not poll workers, election officials or voters. If decisions on access to observers are left to local jurisdictions, please explain.

SECTION E: OTHER

E1. Under HAVA, Section 402, states are required to establish and maintain administrative complaint procedures to remedy grievances. Has your state revised its administrative complaint procedures since they were first implemented? If so, how?

E2. The Military and Overseas Voter Empowerment Act (MOVE) was signed into law on October 22, 2009. The MOVE Act contains, among other things, provisions regarding States’ methods of communication with UOCAVA voters and UOCAVA ballot transmission.

Please describe your State’s processes and procedures for implementing MOVE (including any changes in your State’s laws or regulations) as they relate to:

• Protecting the security and integrity of the voter registration and ballot application process, the privacy and personal information of the voter, and absentee ballots. (Sect. 577, 578)

• Designating a means of electronic communication for all voting-related materials to UOCAVA voters. (Sect. 577)

• Establishing a ballot tracking mechanism to allow voters to determine whether their ballots were received by the appropriate election official. (Sect. 580(d))

Also, please describe your State’s plans to capture data related to the number of registration applications, ballot applications, and blank ballots transmitted to UOCAVA voters via mail and electronic means (Internet, email, fax) and the number of registration applications, ballot applications, and completed ballots returned by UOCAVA voters via mail and electronic means (Internet, email, fax).

E3. Please add any additional comments or information about your state’s election administration processes that would help to inform the EAC’s interpretation of your data.

* The information collection associated with the Election Administration and Voting Survey is required for the EAC to meet its statutory requirements under the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) of 2002 (42 U.S.C. 15301), the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) (42 U.S.C. 1973gg-1 et seq.), and the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voters Act (UOCAVA) (42 U.S.C. 1973ff-1). Respondent’s obligation to reply to this information collection is mandatory as required under NVRA (42 U.S.C. 1973gg-1 et seq.) and UOCAVA (42 U.S.C. 1973ff-1). This part of the information collection is being requested to help the EAC to better understand state laws governing federal elections. Respondents include the fifty states, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. Territories. This information will be made publicly available on the EAC website (www.eac.gov). According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, an agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a valid OMB control number. The valid OMB control number for this information collection is OMB Control No. xxxx-xxxx (expires xx/xx/xx). The time required to complete this information collection is estimated to average 59 hours per state response. This estimate includes the time for reviewing the instructions, gathering information, and completing the form. Comments regarding this burden estimate should be sent the U.S. Election Assistance Commission – 2010 Election Administration and Voting Survey, 1225 New York Avenue, Suite 1100, Washington, DC 20005.

OMB Control No. xxxx-xxxx 7 Expiration Date xx/xx/xx