EAC-12B 2012 Statutory Overview

U.S. ELECTION ASSISTANCE COMMISSION
2012 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 2012 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)

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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.
a. 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.]

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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.
a. Over-vote
b. Under-vote
c. Blank ballot
d. Void/Spoiled ballot
e. Provisional/Challenged ballot

f. Absentee

g. Early voting

h. Active Voter

i. Inactive Voter

j. 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.

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SECTION B: VOTER REGISTRATION
B1. Is your state’s voter registration database system best described as a bottom-up, a topdown, 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 driver’s 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.).

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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.).
a. 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. A post-election
audit refers to hand-counting votes on paper records and comparing those counts to the
corresponding vote counts originally reported, as a check on the accuracy of election results,
and resolving discrepancies using accurate hand counts of the paper records as the
benchmark.

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(C7 continued from previous page)
If your state has post-election auditing, consider including in your response information such
as the unit being audited (e.g., precincts, machines); the sampling method (e.g., fixed
percentages); whether there is a specific trigger for the audit; the location of the random
selection (e.g., state, county); and the races that can be audited.

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

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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:
a. registering to vote;

b. casting an in-person ballot;

c. casting a mail-in or absentee vote;

d. casting a ballot under UOCAVA;

e. 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.

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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. 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. 3265-0006 (expires 5/31/2013). 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 – 2012
Election Administration and Voting Survey, 1201 New York Avenue, Suite 300, Washington, DC 20005.

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