Proposed Voluntary Guidance on Implementation of Statewide Voter Registration Lists, 20114-20116 [05-7713]

Agencies

• Election Assistance Commission

[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 73 (Monday, April 18, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 20114-20116]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-7713]


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ELECTION ASSISTANCE COMMISSION


Proposed Voluntary Guidance on Implementation of Statewide Voter 
Registration Lists

AGENCY: United States Election Assistance Commission (EAC).

ACTION: Notice; proposed guidance and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The EAC is proposing voluntary policy guidance on the 
interpretation of section 303(a) of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 
(HAVA). HAVA was enacted to set standards for the administration of 
Federal elections. Included in the new standards is a requirement that 
each State develop and maintain a single, statewide list of registered 
voters. The voluntary guidance proposed by EAC will assist the States 
in understanding and interpreting HAVA's standards regarding statewide 
voter registration lists.

DATES: Submit written or electronic comments on this draft guidance on 
or before 5 p.m. e.d.t. on May 25, 2005.

ADDRESSES: Send comments to Juliet Thompson, General Counsel, via mail 
to U.S. Election Assistance Commission, 1225 New York Avenue, Suite 
1100, Washington, DC 20005; via fax to 202-566-1392; or via e-mail to 
guidance@eac.gov. An electronic copy of the proposed guidance may be 
found on the EAC's Web site: https://www.eac.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Juliet Thompson, General Counsel, 
Washington, DC, (202) 566-3100, Fax: (202) 566-1392.

Proposed Voluntary Guidance on Implementation of Statewide Voter 
Registration Lists

I. Introduction

    The Help America Vote Act of 2002 (HAVA) requires the Chief 
Election Official in each State to implement a ``single, uniform, 
official, centralized, interactive computerized statewide voter 
registration list.'' That list is to be ``defined, maintained, and 
administered at the State level'' and must contain the ``name and 
registration information of every legally registered voter in the 
State.''
    The details of implementing these statewide voter registration 
lists were left to the States. However, Congress authorized the United 
States Election Assistance Commission (EAC) to issue voluntary guidance 
to assist the States with interpreting and implementing the provisions 
of HAVA as they relate to the requirement for a statewide voter

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registration list. It is important to note, however, that the EAC does 
not have legal authority to interpret HAVA beyond providing voluntary 
guidance in assisting States and local governments to meet the 
requirements of HAVA. The civil enforcement of Title III of HAVA is 
expressly assigned to the United States Department of Justice (DOJ).
    Although it is clear that a single, uniform, official, centralized, 
interactive computerized voter registration list is one that is 
technically and functionally able to perform tasks described in 
sections 303(a)(1)(A)(i) through 303(a)(1)(A)(vii) of HAVA, 
clarification is needed as to how and to what extent each of these 
functions must be accomplished by the statewide voter registration 
list. The following is interpretative guidance that clarifies the 
meaning of certain portions of section 303(a) of HAVA (42 U.S.C. 
15483(a)).
    The guidance also serves to encourage state and local election 
officials to work together to define and assume their appropriate 
responsibilities for meeting this HAVA requirement, as well as to 
engage other relevant stakeholders in this process.
    The guidance set forth below as developed by the EAC through a 
process which involved holding a public meeting regarding the statewide 
voter registration lists as well as convening a working group of state 
and local election officials to assist with identifying the issues and 
solutions involved with implementing a statewide voter registration 
list. EAC held a public meeting wherein it received testimony from four 
state election officials whose states have implemented statewide voter 
registration lists, either prior to or since the passage of HAVA. 
Subsequently, EAC, assisted by the National Academies, convened a two-
day working group meeting wherein state and local election officials 
discussed issues that persist in the implementation of this HAVA 
requirement. The working group received technical assistance from 
technology experts invited by the Academies and representatives of the 
country's motor vehicle administrators. EAC used these discussions as a 
basis for developing the guidance that is presented below.
    The following guidance on statewide voter registration lists is 
restricted to issues of policy related to the development and 
implementation of a single, uniform, official, centralized interactive 
computerized statewide voter registration list. EAC and the working 
group of state and local election officials will continue to explore 
technical issues related to the maintenance and upgrade of these 
database systems, with assistance from the National Academies. 
Additional guidance and/or best practices related to these technology 
issues will be developed, presented for comment, and adopted in the 
coming months.

II. Scope and Definitions

1. Is guidance regarding statewide voter registration lists or Section 
303(a) of HAVA mandatory?
    No. The guidance issued here by EAC is voluntary. States can choose 
to adopt this guidance as interpretative of HAVA's requirement for a 
statewide voter registration list.
2. Who would benefit from this guidance?
    This guidance is targeted to assist the States and local 
governments in fulfilling their requirements under Section 303(a) of 
HAVA. This guidance may help election officials understand HAVA's 
intent to comprise a single, uniform statewide voter registration list 
and the responsibilities that HAVA places on all election officials to 
assure that the names and information contained in the statewide voter 
registration list are accurate.
3. To whom is Section 303(a) of HAVA applicable?
    The provisions of Section 303(a) apply to all States, the District 
of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, and 
the United States Virgin Islands except those that on or after the date 
of enactment of HAVA had no requirement for registration of voters with 
respect to elections for Federal office. Currently, only North Dakota 
has no voter registration requirement.
4. Does this guidance in any way alter, interpret, or effect the 
requirements of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993?
    No. Nothing in this guidance should be construed to alter, 
interpret or effect, in any way whatsoever, the requirements of the 
National Voter Registration Act of 1993, including requirements and 
timeframes with respect to the administration of voter registration 
and/or the process States must follow in removing names of registrants 
from the voting rolls.
5. Who is a local election official?
    A local election official is the person or persons who have primary 
legal responsibility for determining the eligibility of an individual 
to vote and maintaining and updating the voter registration information 
of eligible voters in his/her voter registration jurisdiction.
6. Who is responsible for implementing the provisions of Section 303(a) 
of HAVA?
    The State through the State's Chief Election Official is 
responsible for ensuring that the State has a single, uniform, 
official, centralized, interactive computerized statewide voter 
registration list. However, local election officials also have certain 
responsibilities outlined in Section 303(a) of HAVA, particularly with 
regard to entering voter registration information into the statewide 
voter registration list on an expedited basis.
7. What is the official list of voters pursuant to Section 303(a) of 
HAVA?
    The official list is the list defined, maintained and administered 
by the State through the State's Chief Election Official.

III. Guidance on Statewide Voter Registration Lists

8. What types of databases meet the requirements of HAVA to generate a 
single, uniform voter registration list?
    HAVA requires State and local election officials to use and access 
the same statewide voter registration list for purposes of conducting 
voter registration and voting in an election for Federal office. While 
databases hosted on a single, central platform (e.g., mainframe and/or 
client servers) are most closely akin to the requirements of HAVE, a 
database which gathers its information from local voter registration 
databases or servers may also meet the single, uniform list requirement 
as long as the statewide voter registration list is defined, maintained 
and administered by the State (e.g., the State establishes uniform 
software for use by all local databases) and the statewide voter 
registration list contains the name and registration information of 
every legally registered voter in the State with a unique identifier 
(i.e., the last four digits of a Social Security Number, driver's 
license number, or a unique number assigned by the election official).
9. How frequently must the statewide voter registration list be 
synchronized with any local databases to assure that the statewide 
voter registration list is the single source for the names and 
registration information of all legally registered voters in the State?
    At a minimum, the statewide voter registration list should be 
synchronized with local voter registration databases at least once 
every 24 hours to assure that the statewide voter registration list

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contains the names and registration information for all legally 
registered voters in the State and that local election officials 
throughout the State have immediate electronic access to such 
information, as appropriate.
10. How should the statewide voter registration list be coordinated 
with other agency databases?
    HAVA makes accurate voter registration lists a priority. States 
should coordinate the statewide voter registration list with other 
state agency databases (e.g., voter registration agencies as defined by 
NVRA) that may contain information relevant to the statewide voter 
registration list.
    Additionally, coordination between the statewide voter registration 
list and other government sources of information (e.g., death and 
felony records) is equally critical. States should take steps to 
provide for regular coordination of their statewide voter registration 
lists with death and felony records so as to assure that the statewide 
voter registration list is current.
    Moreover, section 303(a) of HAVA requires States to match 
information received on voter registration forms against drivers 
license and social security databases for the purpose of verifying the 
accuracy of the information received from all new voter registrants. 
Under Section 303(b), such validation provides an exemption to the 
voter identification requirements for first-time registrants by mail if 
the information matches.
11. Who should have immediate electronic access to the statewide voter 
registration list?
    At a minimum, local election officials must have immediate 
electronic access to the statewide voter registration list. This means 
that the local official must have access through some electronic 
connection to the official statewide voter registration list when 
needed to process voter registrations, assist voters, input or change 
data, or determine eligibility of an individual to vote. The level of 
access given to each user should be appropriate to the function of the 
user and should be established collaboratively by the State and local 
election officials. However, all voter registration information 
obtained by any local election official must be electronically entered 
into the statewide voter registration list on an expedited basis at the 
time the information is provided to the local official.

    Dated: April 12, 2005.
Gracia Hillman,
Chair, Election Assistance Commission.
[FR Doc. 05-7713 Filed 4-15-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6820-YN-M