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2 Key Processes for Voter Registration Databases
Pages 7-16

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From page 7...
... 1 These two general processes -- verifying voter registration information and maintaining voter registration lists -- are central to the technical and policy dimensions of voter registration databases. Other processes, not covered in this report, are relevant to other requirements and verification procedures covered under Section 303(b)
From page 8...
... Voter registration databases often integrate an image of voter signatures into their records of registered voters, but to the best of the committee's knowledge, they continue to store original sig natures that are captured on paper. Handwriting experts -- who may be asked to judge whether two signatures are sufficiently similar -- have learned from experience that a signature captured on paper provides more forensically useful information than the same signature captured only in image form.
From page 9...
... Jurisdictions must perform periodic list maintenance in accordance with provisions of the NVRA.4 Section 8 of the NVRA requires states to conduct a "general program that makes a reasonable effort to remove the names of ineligible voters" at voter request or as a result of a felony conviction (presuming that state law directs removal of felons from voter registration lists) , mental incompetence (again presuming that state law directs such removal)
From page 10...
... Election officials estimate the need for polling locations, allocate voting equipment, order ballots, and request budgets for mailings to voters based in large part on voter registration lists that are presumed to be accurate. And duplicate registrations raise suspicions or fears of voter fraud because they may open the door to persons voting more than once.
From page 11...
... Finding Duplicates Across Two Separate Voter Registration Databases Finding duplicates across separate VRDs is of particular interest to election officials in states that see substantial residential mobility of their residents to and from one or more other states, particularly neighboring states.6 Finding and, when appropriate, removing out-of-date voter registration records should result in more accurate voter registration databases that perform such list maintenance. 7 Such comparisons can serve two purposes: • Administratie cleanup.
From page 12...
... . Of the 39 responses, 379 responses were forwarded to the appropriate county election official and resulted in cancelled voter registration records.
From page 13...
... 11 Running on a Dell workstation, the comparison of two state voter registration databases (each containing records for 2-3 million voters) took approximately 2½ hours to complete the generation of possible pairs of records.
From page 14...
... However, HAVA does not specify how the coordination with other state agencies' databases is to take place and lacks specific guidance on standards or methods for removal of ineligible voters from the databases for the above reasons. Note also that state law governs state policy regarding the relationship between voting eligibility and status as a felon.
From page 15...
... The DMF may well lag the issuance of death certificates by a few months; if more current data on deaths are available on deaths, election officials must make a tradeoff involving currency of data versus inconvenience of access.) (It is for this reason, among others, that departments of vital statistics have sought to develop STEVE.)
From page 16...
... The utility of such a check varies, as some election offices have noted that NCOA information is not sufficiently timely for their purposes. The NVRA requires election officials to notify the voter if they receive an indication that the voter has moved.


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