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Improving State Voter Registration Databases Final Report (2010) / Chapter Skim
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Appendix A: Background and Context
Pages 59-64

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From page 59...
... On the other hand, North Dakota maintains a "central voter file," which contains most of the information that the VRD systems of other states contain, including the voter's complete legal name, complete residential address, complete mailing address, a unique identifier for the individual generated and assigned by the state, and the voting history for the last 4 years. North Dakota's central voter file is used for purposes of "preventing and determining voter fraud, making changes and updates, and generating information, including pollbooks, reports, inquiries, forms, and voter lists." (Chapter 16.1-02, North Dakota Code, available at http://www.legis.nd.gov/cencode/t161c02.
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From page 60...
... Depending on the state, citizens can also obtain voter registration materials in many places, including military facilities, assisted living facilities, high schools, vocational schools, social service agencies, nursing homes, and libraries, or through voter registration drives, or by down loading materials from the Internet. In addition, the National Voter Registration Act requires all states to provide such materials at their departments of motor vehicles, departments of human services, and public assistance agencies.
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From page 61...
... The Voting Rights Act of 1965 aims to broadly protect voter rights by prohibiting discriminatory voting practices and by preventing an individual from being denied the right to vote "because of an error or omission on any record or paper relating to any application, registration, or other act requisite to voting, if such error or omission is not material in determining whether such individual is qualified under the State law to vote in such election." Subsequent legislation aimed at facilitating voter registration and increasing the accessibility of absentee ballots for particular classes of voters includes the Voting Accessibility for the Elderly and Handicapped Act of 1984 and the Uniformed and Overseas Citizen Absentee Voting Act of 1986. The National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (NVRA)
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From page 62...
...  FIGURE A.1 Voter registration list maintenance options under the National Voter Registration Act. S OURCE: National Clearinghouse on Election Administration, "Implementing the National Voter Registration Act of 1993: Requirements, Issues, Approaches, and Examples," Federal Election Com mission, Washington, D.C., January 1, 1994, p.
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From page 63...
... These two views are commonly identified with specific political parties. Another set of concerns about voter registration, generally not associated with one party or another, stems from the fact that exercising the right to vote in the United States requires the active participation of the voter to register -- and some individuals in policy-making or operational positions have been known to be dismissive of efforts to ease the voter registration process or to reduce voter effort in maintaining registration by saying, in effect, "If the person isn't willing to do x, then he or she shouldn't be voting anyway." Ultimately, voter registration lists cannot be perfect with respect to either completeness or accuracy, in part because the voting population changes by the day and even by the hour.
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From page 64...
... Concerns have also been raised about the safety of battered men or women if the contact information contained in their voter registration were to be disclosed publicly, and some jurisdictions have enacted special protections in this instance. THE BASIC REQUIREMENT FOR STATEWIDE VOTER REGISTRATION DATABASES HAVA Section 303 requires each state to establish and maintain a "single, uniform, official, central ized, interactive computerized statewide voter registration list" that contains the voter registration information for all eligible voters in the state and requires that the VRD be electronically accessible by any election official in the state.
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Key Terms

  • registration lists
  • statewide voter
  • registration databases
  • election officials
  • national voter

  • registration list
  • registration act
  • north dakota
  • registration information
  • registration procedures

  • election administration
  • eligible voters
  • registered voter
  • voter lists
  • require voter

  • centralized voter
  • election assistance
  • state election
  • local election
  • presidential election

  • poll taxes
  • subsequent legislation
  • legally registered
  • unique identifier
  • america vote

  • individuals eligible
  • equal protection
  • voluntary guidance
  • federal elections
  • help america


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