Proposed Information Collection-2014 Election Administration and Voting Survey; Comment Request, 78345-78347 [2013-30790]

Agencies

• Election Assistance Commission

[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 248 (Thursday, December 26, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 78345-78347]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-30790]


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ELECTION ASSISTANCE COMMISSION


Proposed Information Collection--2014 Election Administration and 
Voting Survey; Comment Request

AGENCY: U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: In compliance with Section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the Paperwork 
Reduction Act of 1995, EAC announces an information collection and 
seeks public comment on the provisions thereof. The EAC, pursuant to 5 
CFR 1320.5(a)(iii), intends to submit this proposed information 
collection (2014 Election Administration and Voting Survey) to the 
Director of the Office of Management and Budget for approval. The 2014 
Election Administration and Voting Survey (Survey) asks election 
officials questions concerning voting and election administration. 
These questions request information concerning ballots cast; voter 
registration; overseas and military voting; Election Day activities; 
voting technology; and other important issues. The EAC issues the 
survey to meet its obligations under the Help America Vote Act to serve 
as national clearinghouse and resource for the compilation of 
information with respect to the administration of Federal elections; to 
fulfill both the EAC's and the Department of Defense Federal Voting 
Assistance Programs' quantitative State data collection requirements 
under the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA); 
and meet its National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) mandate to collect 
information from states concerning the impact of that statute on the 
administration of Federal Elections.

DATES: Written comments must be submitted on or before 4 p.m. EST on 
January 27, 2014.
    Comments: Public comments are invited on: (a) Whether the proposed 
collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of 
the functions of the agency, including whether the information shall 
have practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the agency's estimate of 
the burden of the proposed information collection; (c) ways to enhance 
the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; 
and (d) ways to minimize the burden of the information collection on 
respondents, including through the use of automated collection 
techniques or other forms of information technology.
    Comments on the proposed information collection should be submitted 
electronically to electiondaysurvey@eac.gov. Written comments on the 
proposed information collection can also be sent to the U.S. Election 
Assistance Commission, 1335 East West Highway, Suite 4300, Silver 
Spring, MD 20910, Attn: Election Administration and Voting Survey.
    Obtaining a Copy of the Survey: To obtain a free copy of the 
survey: (1) Access the EAC Web site at https://www.eac.gov and download 
an electronic copy of the survey; or (2) write to the EAC (including 
your address and phone number) at U.S. Election Assistance Commission, 
1335 East West Highway, Suite 4300, Silver Spring, MD 20910, Attn: 
Election Administration and Voting Survey.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Karen Lynn-Dyson at (301) 563-3919 
U.S. Election Assistance Commission, 1335 East West Highway, Suite 
4300, Silver Spring, MD 20910.
    Needs and Uses: The EAC issues the survey to meet its obligations 
under the Help America Vote Act to serve as national clearinghouse and 
resource for

[[Page 78346]]

the compilation of information with respect to the administration of 
Federal elections; to fulfill both the EAC and Department of Defense 
Federal Voting Assistance Program data collection requirements under 
the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA); and 
meet its National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) mandate to collect 
information from states concerning the impact of that statute on the 
administration of Federal Elections. The Help America Vote Act of 2002 
(HAVA) (42 U.S.C. 15322) requires the EAC to serve as a national 
clearinghouse and resource for the compilation of information and 
review of procedures with respect to the administration of Federal 
Elections. This includes the obligation to study and report on election 
activities, practices, policies, and procedures, including methods of 
voter registration, methods of conducting provisional voting, poll 
worker recruitment and training, and such other matters as the 
Commission determines are appropriate. In addition, under the National 
Voter Registration Act (NVRA), the EAC is responsible for collecting 
information and reporting, biennially, to the United States Congress on 
the impact of that statute. The information the States are required to 
submit to the EAC for purposes of the NVRA report are found under Title 
11 of the Code of Federal Regulations. States that respond to questions 
in this survey concerning voter registration related matters will meet 
their NVRA reporting requirements under 42 U.S.C. 1973gg-7 and EAC 
regulations. Finally, the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee 
Voters Act (UOCAVA) mandates that the Department of Defense Federal 
Voting Assistance Program (FVAP) work with the EAC and State Chief 
Election officials to develop standards for reporting UOCAVA voting 
information (42 U.S.C. 1973ff-1) and that the FVAP will store the 
reported data and present the findings within the congressionally-
mandated report to the President and Congress. Additionally, UOCAVA 
requires that ``not later than 90 days after the date of each regularly 
scheduled general election for Federal office, each State and unit of 
local government which administered the election shall (through the 
State, in the case of a unit of local government) submit a report to 
the Election Assistance Commission (established under the Help America 
Vote Act of 2002) on the combined number of absentee ballots 
transmitted to absent uniformed services voters and overseas voters for 
the election and the combined number of such ballots which were 
returned by such voters and cast in the election, and shall make such a 
report available to the general public.'' States that complete and 
timely submit the UOCAVA section of the survey to the EAC will fulfill 
their UOCAVA reporting requirement under 42 U.S.C. 1973ff-1(c). In 
order to fulfill the above requirements, the EAC is seeking information 
relating to the period from the Federal general election day 2012 +1 
through the November 2014 Federal general election.
    The 2014 Survey has been expanded to include all of the questions 
from the Post-Election Survey of State and Local Election Officials, 
OMB Control Number 0704-0125, formerly conducted by the Department of 
Defense Federal Voting Assistance Program. The Election Assistance 
Commission will provide the data from the new included items to the 
Department of Defense after data collection is completed. The 
additional questions are necessary to fulfill the mandate of the 
Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA of 1986 [42 
U.S.C. 1973ff]). UOCAVA requires the States to allow Uniformed Services 
personnel, their family members, and overseas citizens to use absentee 
registration procedures and to vote by absentee ballot in general, 
special, primary, and runoff elections for Federal offices. UOCAVA 
covers members of the Uniformed Services and the Merchant Marine to 
include the commissioned corps of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
Administration and Public Health Service and their eligible dependents, 
Federal civilian employees overseas, and overseas U.S. citizens not 
affiliated with the Federal Government. Local Election Officials (LEO) 
process voter registration and absentee ballot applications, send 
absentee ballots to voters, and receive and process the voted ballots 
in counties, cities, parishes, townships and other jurisdictions within 
the U.S. The Federal Voting Assistance Program (FVAP) conducts the 
post-election survey of State and Local Election Officials to determine 
registration and participation rates that are representative of all 
citizens covered by the Act, to measure State-Federal cooperation, and 
to evaluate the effectiveness of the overall absentee voting program.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Title and OMB Number: 2014 Election Administration and Voting 
Survey; OMB Number Pending.
    Summary of the Collection of Information: The survey requests 
information on a state- and county-level (or township-, independent 
city-, borough-level, where applicable) concerning the following 
categories:

Voter Registration Applications (From the Period of Federal General 
Election Day +1, 2012 through Federal General Election Day, 2014)

    (a) Total number of registered voters; (b) Number of active and 
inactive registered voters; (c) Number of persons who registered to 
vote on Election Day--only applicable to States with Election Day 
registration; (d) Number of voters who registered using online 
registration--only applicable to States that allow online registration: 
(e) Number of voter registration applications received from all 
sources; (f) Number of voter registration applications that were 
duplicates, invalid or rejected, new, changes of name, address, party, 
and not categorized; (g) Number of duplicate registration applications 
received from all sources; (h) Total number of removal/confirmation 
notices mailed to voters and the reason for removal; (i) total number 
of voters removed from the registration list or moved to the inactive 
registration list.

Uniformed & Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA)

    (a) Total number and type of UOCAVA absentee ballots transmitted; 
(b) Total number and type of UOCAVA ballots returned and submitted for 
counting; (c) Total number and type of UOCAVA ballot returned by type 
of UOCAVA voter; (d) Total number and type of all UOCAVA ballots 
counted; (e) Total number and type of UOCAVA ballot counted by type of 
UOCAVA voter; (f) Total number and type of all UOCAVA ballots rejected; 
(g) Total number of UOCAVA ballots rejected by reason for rejection; 
(h) Total number of UOCAVA ballot rejected by type of UOCAVA voter; (i) 
Total number and type of registered and eligible UOCAVA voters; (j) 
Total number of Federal Post Card Applications (FPCAs) received by type 
of voter; (k) Total number of FPCAs rejected by type of voter; (l) 
Total number of FPCAs rejected after the absentee ballot request 
deadline; (m) Date when transmission of absentee ballots to UOCAVA 
voters began for the November election cycle; (n) Total number of 
UOCAVA ballots transmitted before and after the 45-day deadline by mode 
of transmission; (o) Total number of UOCAVA ballots transmitted that 
were returned as undeliverable by mode of transmission; (p) Total 
number of UOCAVA ballots returned by voters, excluding Federal Write-In 
Absentee Ballots (FWABs); (q) Total number of

[[Page 78347]]

UOCAVA ballots returned by voters and rejected, excluding FWABS, by 
type of voter and by mode of transmission; (r) Total number of UOCAVA 
ballots counted by mode of transmission, excluding FWABS; (s) Total 
number of FWABs received by type of voter; (t) Total number of FWABs 
rejected by type of voter; (u) Total number of FWABs rejected by reason 
for rejection; and (v) Total number of FWABs received by type of voter.

Election Administration

    (a) Total number of precincts in the state/jurisdiction; (b) Number 
of polling places available for voting in the November 2014 Federal 
general election; (c) Number of poll workers used for Election Day; (d) 
Extent to which jurisdictions had enough poll workers available for the 
general election.

Election Day Activities

    (a) Total number of persons who voted in the 2014 Federal general 
election; (b) The source of the participation number--poll books, 
ballots counted, vote history; (c) Total number of first-time voters 
who registered by mail and were required to provide identification in 
order to vote; (d) Number of voters who appeared on the permanent 
absentee voter registration list; (e) Number of absentee ballots 
requested, received, counted, and not counted; (f) Reasons for absentee 
ballot rejection; (g) Number of provisional ballots cast, counted, and 
rejected; (h) Reasons for provisional ballot rejection; (i) Use of 
electronic and printed poll books during the 2014 Federal general 
election; (j) Type and number of voting equipment used for the 2014 
Federal general election; (k) Type of process in which voting equipment 
was used--precinct, absentee, early vote site, accessible to disabled 
voters, provisional voting; (l) Location in which votes were tallied--
central location, precinct/polling place, or early vote site; (m) 
General comments regarding the jurisdiction's Election Day experiences.

2014 Election Results

    Total number of votes cast--at polling places, via absentee ballot, 
at early vote centers, via provisional ballots.

Statutory Overview (2014 Federal General Election)

    (a) Information on whether the state is exempt from the National 
Voter Registration Act (NVRA); (b) State definition of terms--over-
vote, under-vote, blank ballot, void/spoiled ballot, provisional/
challenged ballot; (c) State definition of inactive and active voter; 
(d) State provision for voter identification at registration, for in-
person voting, and for mail-in or absentee voting; (e) information on 
legal citation for changes to election laws or procedures enacted or 
adopted since the previous Federal general election; (f) State 
definition of voter registration; (g) Process used for moving voters 
from active to inactive lists and from inactive to active; (h) State 
deadline for registration for the Federal general election; (i) 
Information of whether the state is an Election Day/Same Day 
Registration state; (j) Description of state voter registration 
database system--bottom-up or top-down; (k) State voter removal/
confirmation notices processes; (l) Agency or department that is 
responsible for list maintenance; (m) Information on whether there are 
electronic links between the voter registrar's office and other state 
agencies; (n) State's use of National Change of Address (NCOA); (o) 
State's voting eligibility requirements as they relate to convicted 
felons; (p) Tabulation of votes cast at a place other than the voter's 
precinct; (q) Provision for voting absentee; (r) State tracking of the 
date of all ballots cast before election day; (s) Provision for mail-in 
voting in place of at-the-precinct voting; (t) Acceptance or rejection 
of provisional ballots of voters registered in a different precinct; 
(u) State process for capturing over-votes and under-votes. States and 
territories that submitted a Statutory Overview for 2008 will be asked 
to provide updates to the information above, where applicable.
    Affected Public (Respondents): State or local governments, the 
District of Columbia, Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, American 
Samoa, and the United States Virgin Islands.
    Affected Public: State or local government.
    Number of Respondents: 55.
    Responses per Respondent: 1.
    Estimated Burden per Response: 230 hours per collection, 115 hours 
annualized.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 12,650 hours per collection, 
6,325 hours annualized.
    Frequency: Biennially.

Alice Miller,
Chief Operating Officer and Acting Executive Director, U.S. Election 
Assistance Commission.
[FR Doc. 2013-30790 Filed 12-24-13; 8:45 am]
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