OFFICIAL MASS CANCELLATION OF SUSPENSE RECORDS 11302016 Suspense

OFFICIAL MASS CANCELLATION OF SUSPENSE RECORDS 11/30/2016

Suspense List TEC § 15. 081 The Voter Registrar shall maintain a suspense list containing the name of each voter: • Who fails to submit response to an Address Confirmation Notice. (TEC § 15. 053) • Whose renewal certificate is returned to the registrar. (TEC Subchapter B, § 14) • Who appears on the list of nonresidents of the county. (TGC § 62. 114) 9/18/2020 Texas Secretary of State Elections 2

Cancellation of Suspense Records TEC § 16. 032 Cancellation following end of suspense list period. If on November 30 following the second general election for state and county officers that occurs after the date the voter’s name is entered on the suspense list a registered voter’s name appears on the suspense list, the registrar shall cancel the voter’s registration unless the name is to be deleted from the list under Section 15. 023. Administration of Voter Registration of the Federal National Voter Registration Act (NVRA), 42 U. S. C. A. §§ 1973 gg et seq passed in 1993, a State can only remove the name of a person from the voter registration list on grounds of change of residence upon: 1) the voter’s written first-hand confirmation of a change of address to a location outside of the registrar’s jurisdiction, or 2) reliable second-hand information indicating a change of address outside of the jurisdiction from a source such as the NCOA program, or a general mailing to all voters, plus the subsequent failure of the person to respond to a specific forwardable confirmation mailing sent by the State and the failure of the person to vote or appear to vote during the period ending on the day after the second federal general election subsequent to the confirmation notice being sent. See specifically Id. § 1973 gg– 6 (b), (c) & (d). TEC § 15. 023 Time for certain deletions from suspense list. If the name of the voter whose residence is changed on the registration records to another county election precinct in the same county appears on the suspense list, the voters name shall be deleted from the list on the date the voters’ registration in the precinct of new residence becomes effective. 9/18/2020 Texas Secretary of State Elections 3

Mass Cancellation Dates A voter placed on the Suspense List between the dates listed below are eligible to be cancelled on the corresponding cancellation date. • • • On Suspense Between 10/06/2008 – 10/03/2010 10/04/2010 – 10/07/2012 10/08/2012 – 10/05/2014 10/06/2014 – 10/09/2016 10/10/2016 – 10/07/2018 9/18/2020 • • • To be Cancelled on November 30, 2012 November 30, 2014 November 30, 2016 November 30, 2018 November 30, 2020 Texas Secretary of State Elections 4

Suspense Records to be Cancelled • Voters placed on the Suspense List between October 8, 2012 and October 5, 2014. • Mass Cancellation cannot take place prior to November 30, 2016. • Offline counties will import their cancellations. • SOS will conduct the 2016 mass cancellations for online counties upon notification from the county. 9/18/2020 Texas Secretary of State Elections 5

High Level Overview of Steps 1. Complete required work BEFORE looking at Cancellations. a. Election follow-up b. Suspense Voter Activity - Make these records Active and immediately send Notice of Address Confirmation to place these people back on Suspense. c. Suspense Voter Activity - Update records as needed. 2. Run ‘Suspense to Cancel’ report and confirm voter list to be cancelled 3. Notify SOS when ready to complete Cancellations; for Offline Counties – send Cancellation file. 4. Upon Confirmation from SOS of cancellation completion, run ‘Mass-Cancelled’ voters and confirm the same number of voter records were cancelled. 9/18/2020 Texas Secretary of State Elections 6

Work Before the Cancellation • Enter all voting history. • Process all Statement of Residence forms, Provisional Ballots & Limited Ballots from the November 8, 2016 General Election. • Register voters submitting a completed FPCA after the deadline for voting in the November Election. • Work the following 2 voter categories: – Suspense Voters who Voted After being placed on Suspense – Suspense Voters with changes to their registration record after being placed on Suspense 9/18/2020 Texas Secretary of State Elections 7

42 U. S. C. A. (NVRA) §§ 1973 gg Suspense Voter Activity Voting Activity 9/18/2020 • Records with voting history applied AFTER the voters were placed on Suspense. • County should attempt to obtain an updated address, but the Voter record must be changed to Active and then immediately sent a Notice of Address Confirmation to place them back on Suspense. Texas Secretary of State Elections 8

Suspense Voter Activity Changes 9/18/2020 • Records with any change applied AFTER they were placed on Suspense. • County should investigate whether the change was initiated by the voter • If yes, then change the record to Active. Texas Secretary of State Elections 9

Suspense to Cancel • Evaluate list of voters eligible to be cancelled. • Suspense to Cancel “As of Date” is 10/06/2014 • Confirm that all voters listed should be cancelled • Notify the state office when you are ready for the mass cancellation. 9/18/2020 Texas Secretary of State Elections 10

Offline Counties • Offline Counties should submit all voters cancelled from the suspense list on your daily update file as a cancellation transaction code for Suspense Cancellation. The cancellation date should reflect 11/30/16, with a voter status of “C”. Remember all cancellations should be submitted with the entire record’s information. 9/18/2020 Texas Secretary of State Elections 11

SOS processes the Mass Cancellation • The State to notify county when suspense mass cancellation has been completed. • Evaluate voters that were cancelled from the suspense list to confirm appropriate records were cancelled. • Use as reference to move cancelled voters’ records from your ‘active’ file to your ‘inactive’ file. 9/18/2020 Texas Secretary of State Elections 12

Inactive Voters • Section 13. 102 & Sec. 1. 013 • Must be maintained in a separate file marked “INACTIVE”. • Keep all records pertaining to the voters. • File retention is 2 years from the cancellation date. • After 2 years, all records can be destroyed, burned, or shredded. 9/18/2020 Texas Secretary of State Elections 13