2016 VOTER REGISTRATION ASSOCIATION CONFERENCE Brad King CoDirector
2016 VOTER REGISTRATION ASSOCIATION CONFERENCE Brad King Co-Director Dale Simmons Co-General Counsel Indiana Election Division (317) 232 -3929 Bking@iec. in. gov Dsimmons@iec. in. gov
UPCOMING ELECTION EVENTS § IED official ballot certifications Ø Federal office (except president/vice president), statewide office, state legislative offices, and judges (noon Aug. 26) Ø Statewide public questions and judicial retention questions (noon Aug. 26) Ø Write-in candidates (noon Aug. 26) Ø President and Vice President (noon Sept. 13) § Do not consult the news or SVRS or any other source for ballot information!
UPCOMING ELECTION EVENTS § Candidate Challenges Ø Deadline to challenge candidates filling a ballot vacancy, Libertarian Party candidates, minor party/ independent petition candidate and write -in candidates is noon Aug. 26 and must be decided by noon Sept. 9 Ø Other deadlines for school board candidates and small town convention candidates
UPCOMING ELECTION EVENTS § School Board Candidates: Ø Petition (CAN-34) filing deadline is noon Aug. 26 Ø Write-in (CAN-26) filing from Aug. 10 -noon Aug. 26 Challenge deadlines: File by noon Sept. 2 and decide by noon Sept. 15 Ø Small town (<3, 500) convention candidates (CAN 16) for Democratic, Libertarian and Republican candidates filing deadline noon Aug. 1 Challenge deadlines: File by noon Sept. 6 and decide by noon Sept. 13
UPCOMING ELECTION EVENTS § General procedures for challenge hearings: Ø Provide required Open Door Law 48 -hour notice Ø Provide specific notice to candidate and challenger of date, time and place of hearing (Template available from IED) Ø Like other meetings, keep minutes with record of “yes” and “no” votes Ø Administer oath to persons giving evidence Ø Trial rules of evidence and procedure not apply so can be more informal than court hearing
VOTER REGISTRATION § VRG- 15 and the “president only ballot” voter: Ø Voter was registered and lost residence in Indiana after Oct. 9 by moving to another state Ø Must sign VRG-15 which authorizes cancellation of Indiana voter registration after election § Contrast VRG 4/12 • Box 1 - moved within Indiana after October 9 • Box 2 - moved within same county and same congressional district at any time § Fail Safe Procedures cheat sheet
VOTER REGISTRATION Federal Only Voter § If overseas voter indicates on FPCA or ABS-15 that they reside outside U. S. and their “return is not certain” (and they lived in Indiana as their last residence before leaving the U. S. ) x ØThis overseas voter considered a resident of precinct of county voter registration office ØThis overseas voter entitled to federal only ballot (IC 3 -11 -4 -8)
VOTER REGISTRATION Homeless or Mobile § Voter may provide a description of applicant’s residence on the “residence address” line on the application or provide a map or diagram of the applicant’s residence. (IC 3 -7 -34 -1. 5; IC 3 -7 -37) ØExample # 1: Lives at Homeless shelter ØExample # 2: Lives under bridge ØExample # #: Where voter parks camper § Voter must provide a mailing address within county for mailing of acknowledgement notice
VOTER REGISTRATION Name Changes § How can a name change only be submitted? a. b. c. d. e. New registration form Absentee ballot application VRG 4/12 On poll book All of the above § When can a name change be submitted? a. During open registration period only b. Anytime Answers: e and b
VOTER REGISTRATION Processing Name Change Only § County processes as name change in SVRS using as a “voter correction” and not a “voter update. ”
VOTER REGISTRATION DEADLINES
MATCHING VR DEADLINES a. Registering by Mailpostmark (General Rule) a. Received in mail by October 17 d. Online Registration e. Received by October 11 b. Postmarked by b. Registering by Mail no October 11 postmark c. Registering in person c. 11: 59 pm October 11 at county VR or fulld. Received by October service agency (BMV) 31 e. Military/Overseas Answers: a-b, b-a, c-e, d-c, e-d
VOTER REGISTRATION DEADLINES § Received by Mail with Postmark Ø Must be postmarked by Tuesday Oct. 11, 2016 regardless of when received Regular deadline would fall on 29 th day (Monday October 10) but registration deadline is moved due to state holiday (Columbus Day) § Received by Mail with No Postmark (or illegible postmark) Ø If postmark is missing then registration is timely if it’s received by county or by IED by Monday Oct. 17
VOTER REGISTRATION DEADLINES § Applications hand-delivered or mailed to IED Ø Timely if hand-delivered or postmarked by Tuesday Oct. 11, or if mailed with postmark, if received by IED by Oct. 17 (same as county) § Applications hand-delivered or mailed to wrong county Ø Timely if hand-delivered or postmarked by Tuesday Oct. 11, or if mailed with no postmark, if received by IED by Oct. 17 (IC 3 -7 -34 -9(c); IC 3 -7 -33 -4) Ø Timely if timely submitted at full-service agency but sent to wrong county
VOTER REGISTRATION DEADLINES n Registrations submitted at full-service registration agencies (FSSA or BMV, for example) Ø Timely if submitted at full-service registration agency as part of a full-service transaction (VRG-6) by Tuesday Oct. 11 This is true even if the BMV mails the registration forms to your office and your office receives them after Oct. 11 Full-Service agency must transmit (hand-deliver or mail) registrations within 5 days of receipt
VOTER REGISTRATION DEADLINES n Online Voter Registration- 11: 59 pm Oct. 11 (prevailing local time) n Military and Overseas voters- timely so long as application is received by Oct. 31, 2016
VOTER REGISTRATION DEADLINES Why didn’t someone tell me the deadline to register is Tuesday October 11!
VOTER REGISTRATION DEADLINES § Have Options at the ready: Ø Hand-deliver by Oct. 11 to your office or IED Ø Get application postmarked by Oct. 11 (What post office is open in your area that can postmark that day? ) Ø If have a full-service transaction at voter registration agency Oct. 11 or before (BMV renew license or apply for benefits at FSSA, for example) If no full-service transaction at agency person is given a mail-in form (VRG-7) Online voter registration by 11: 59 pm Oct. 11 Avoids delay of mail Avoids county data entry
VOTER REGISTRATION DEADLINES n The 7 -day pending period is not suspended after registration closes (SOP VRG 13. 1) Ø VR applicant is not legally registered to vote until expiration of pending period Ø If acknowledgement notice mailed is presented in person at county VR person can be active before 7 -day pending period expires (override) Ø Overlap of in-person absentee voting: Absentee voters who are not active may vote a provisional ballot” (IC 3 -11 -4 -17. 5(a))
VOTER REGISTRATION DEADLINES Lockdown of Auto Activate & Pending Period n After October 11: County can continue to process timely registrations after October 11 but, to do so, county must enter October 11 or earlier in “Date App Received” field If October 11 or earlier is not entered in “Date App Received” filed you will receive “Registration period is currently closed” message and would have to override to process for November 8, 2016 election
VOTER REGISTRATION DEADLINES
VOTER REGISTRATION DEADLINES Lockdown of Auto Activate n Even though “Auto Activate” locked after Oct. 11 it can be unlocked if county unable to process registrations in time to print on poll book County must submit request for approval to core team per SOP GEN 7. 2 (updated request on county portal or from Marsha Carrington) If approved county may auto-activate pending voters for poll book purposes only County must update SVRS record and poll book using “Pending Voter List Report”
VOTER REGISTRATION DEADLINES SVRS Navigation to Auto Activate
VOTER REGISTRATION DEADLINES § Voter List Maintenance Program Deadline (also sometimes referred to as “lockdown”) Ø A voter list maintenance program must be completed no later than 90 days before the election (August 10 is last day) Ø This refers to a “general” program like a statewide, county-wide mailing or NCOA mailing A county may still cancel registrations based upon: 1) Request of the voter, including transfers; 2) Death of voter (DOH hopper) 3) Imprisonment following conviction of crime
THE END When you’re stressed out, remember, the best thing about the 2016 Presidential Election is that 2017 is a non-election year!
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