Voter List Maintenance Data Points & Projects, Statewide Mailer

Voter List Maintenance Hoosiers are responsible for updating their voter registration any time they move or change their name. So why is VLM necessary? – Required by Federal law (NVRA) and state law Work must be completed 90 days before primary, general or municipal election – Helps to: Update and reflect voter’s current registration status Modestly reduce costs of election administration 2

Voter List Maintenance What is VLM? – Prescribed process to reclassify voters who may no longer live in your county or Indiana Must provide notice before reclassification – Example: NCOA mailer sent to an ACTIVE voter is returned as undeliverable » Voter is placed in INACTIVE status in SVRS » Voter is moved back to ACTIVE status IF they vote in at least one election during the next two general FEDERAL election cycles – Inactive voter is slated for cancellation after NOT voting in two consecutive general FEDERAL election cycles 3

Voter List Maintenance VLM Mailings – Counties (IC & (b)) State law allows counties to generate their own VLM mailing – Indiana Election Division (IC & 17) State law REQUIRES IED to conduct a statewide mailing every two years Any VLM program MUST be uniform and non-discriminatory and in compliance with the Voting Rights Act of

Voter List Maintenance What types of communication can be used as a VLM source by county officials? – Returned NCOA mailers – Returned jury notices – Returned notices sent to ALL ‘ACTIVE’ voters – Information from BMV that voter has returned license after moving to another state If returned as undeliverable, can trigger inactive status for reclassification after two general election cycles of non-voting 5

Voter List Maintenance What types of communication CANNOT be used as a VLM source by county officials? – Returned mail from other government offices – Returned mail received by political parties or candidates are a result of campaign activity – Information provided by a precinct committeeperson or poll worker 6

Other Data Points Self-reporting Disfranchisement due to imprisonment Death Data – Obituaries – STEVE/EVE – Death master list Interstate Mailer (“Kansas” Program) U.S. District Court 7

Data Points Registration information cannot be removed or updated based on hearsay – Election officials must use verified data to inactivate or cancel voter registrations! Critical to have GOOD & ACCURATE data to use as matching criteria for VLM program! 8

Self-Reporting Voter can cancel their own record – County provides with “Authorization to Cancel Registration” form available through SVRS Registration is cancelled once voter signs and returns to your office – IED receives notifications, too Forward those to the county voter registration office – Can be mailed or scanned electronically with hard copy to follow 9

Death Data Obituaries – Can be used by VR Board IF BOTH agree the person in the obituary is the person being cancelled in SVRS Can ask for additional information before deciding whether or not to cancel voter’s registration Any disagreement must be decided by the CEB Best advice: don’t make a decision on name alone. Names are more common than you might think. IC

Death Data STEVE/EVVE – Indiana Department of Health is required to report information on the deaths of Indiana residents outside the state to the Indiana Election Division – This data is being collected from the State and Territorial Exchange of Vital Events (STEVE) and the Electronic Verification of Vital Events (EVVE) Information will be sent to the county voter registration offices via a SVRS hopper – Quest is working with Indiana Office of Technology to ensure proper data connectivity Coming Soon 11

Death Data Death Master File – Social Security Administration maintains a list of deceased Hoosiers Information will be shared with IED monthly – Currently working with Quest to implement program within SVRS Coming Soon 12

Interstate Mailer Effort to identify Hoosier voters (possibly) residing in other states – County learns voter may have moved out of state – Generate ‘interstate’ letter from SVRS – Send letter to voter Response from voter triggers: – Cancellation (if voter notes they have moved out of state) – Update to registration record (if voter moved within Indiana) No response puts the voter in inactive status for reclassification to cancelled status after two general election cycles without voting NEW 13

U.S. District Court Northern & Southern District Courts must share undeliverable jury summons data to IED – Change in state law in 2015 (IC ) – First data pull resulted in about 11,600 entries – Data sorted by: Not deliverable as addresses – Most records fall in to this category Moved out of district Unknown Deceased NEW 14

U.S. District Court First data pull resulted in about 11,600 entries statewide – No special hopper Quest will send spreadsheets directly to each county with voters’ names on the list County will research issue – Send NCOA mailer to those ‘undeliverable’ on the list » Initiates the reclassification process – Contact state or local health departments to confirm person is deceased NEW 15

2016 Statewide Mailer Statewide Mailer – State law requires IED to manage statewide mailing in even number years General Process – Mailer 1 sent to all ACTIVE voters Contains generic messaging Does NOT require action by voter 16

2016 Statewide Mailer General Process – Mailer 2 sent to smaller universe of voters whose postcard is returned as undeliverable Contains SPECIFIC messaging & a return card for voter to confirm: – Confirm current address on card – Change residence address (in state, out-of-state, within county) – Request voter registration cancellation 17

2016 Statewide Mailer Why is this mailer important? – Info gleaned from Mailer 2 triggers ability to reclassify voters who: Do not return second card – Moved to INACTIVE status in SVRS before 2016 general election AND Do not vote in BOTH 2016 & 2018 general elections – Moved to CANCELLED status in SVRS AFTER 2018 general election 18

Statewide Mailer What we learned from 2014 – Better content on postcard communications to reduce confusion, calls to county offices More communication to counties when mail will drop & content of messaging – Use different adhesive to prevent cards from sticking – Ensure notice is given to counties on postcard batch delivery Use better packaging when delivering response cards – Keep online postcard viewer to aid workflow 19

Statewide Mailer Project Update: – Released Request for Proposal (RFP) in summer 2016 – Selected vendor & finalized contract – Begin drafting content for mailers after holidays and no later than March 1,

Statewide Mailer Project Timeline: – First mailer May 13, 2016: deadline to cut data from SVRS – Mailed no later than 7 days afterward – Second mailer sent on a rolling basis Begins no later than May 31, 2016 – County-level work completion Data entry from this mailer must end no later than August 10, 2016 – Federal requirement to end VLM activities no later than 90 days before general election 21

90-Day Rule Federal law requires VLM activities to end no later than 90 days before general election – General VLM work to update or cancel records may resume after the general election VR officials CAN update records within this 90-day window for these reasons ONLY: – At the written request of the voter Ex. VRG-7, voter changes address within county; ABS, voter changes within precinct – However, you cannot INACTIVATE a record during this period – Disfranchisement due to imprisonment – Death of the voter Any statewide VLM mailer information sent to counties after the 90-day deadline is NOT to be used to update or cancel records. IC