Proposed Information Collection-2014 Election Administration and Voting Survey; Comment Request, 42761-42764 [2013-17126]

Agencies

• Election Assistance Commission

[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 137 (Wednesday, July 17, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 42761-42764]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-17126]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

ELECTION ASSISTANCE COMMISSION


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

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

ACTION: Notice.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

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

[[Page 42762]]

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. EDT on 
September 16, 2013.
    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, 
1201 New York Avenue NW., Suite 300, Washington, DC 20005, 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, 
1201 New York Avenue NW., Suite 300, Washington, DC 20005, Attn: 
Election Administration and Voting Survey.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Karen Lynn-Dyson at (202) 566-
3100, U.S. Election Assistance Commission, 1201 New York Avenue NW., 
Suite 300, Washington, DC 20005.

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 
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

[[Page 42763]]

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 and 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 of the type of UOCAVA ballot 
returned by type of UOCAVA voter; (d) Total number and type of all 
UOCAVA ballots counted; (e) Total number of the 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 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.

[[Page 42764]]

    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. 2013-17126 Filed 7-16-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6820-KF-P