FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF STATE

1. FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF STATE Kurt S. Browning Secretary of State Donald L. Palmer Director, Division of Elections 06-05-08

2. 2008 National Voter Registration Act Training WorkshopFor Voter Registration Agencies Presented by: Maria I. Matthews- Assistant General Counsel, Florida Department of State Peggy J. Taff- Chief, Bureau of Voter Registration Services, Florida Division of Elections

3. Training Overview • History of the NVRA • Purposes • Statutory Responsibilities • General Procedures • Things to Remember/Points to Consider • Election Year 2008 • Communication • Questions/Conclusion

4. History of NVRA The National Voter Registration Act 42 U.S.C. 1973 was: • Enacted in 1993 • Effective in most states by 1995 • Florida enacted Florida Voter Registration Act “FVRA” in January 1995 (ss. 97.057,97.058, Florida Statutes)

5. Make it easier and more convenient for persons to register to vote By increasing the number of locations where eligible citizens can apply for voter registration By requiring the creation of a national mail-in voter registration application One of the Primary Purposes:

6. Federal Law Requirements • NVRA 42 U.S.C. 1973gg-5 Designated and directed government or public service agencies offices to provide simultaneous services of public assistance/government services AND voter registration services (apply or update a voter registration record) • Help America Vote Act of 2002 Added more requirements to facilitate voter registration including the creation of a single centralized statewide voter registration database (Florida Voter Registration System-FVRS) • As of 01/06, all 67 individual county voter registration systems and DHSMV electronic voter registration intake information interface to create the basis for FVRS (Bureau of Voter Registration Services acts as 68th county) • Person can register anywhere in the state. • Person moving from one Florida county to another only has to make an address update. He/she does not have to re-register as a new voter.

7. Who Are the Voter Registration Agencies? • Any Office that Provides Public Assistance (specifically): • Department of Children and Families: • Any office offering assistance through food stamp programs • The Medicaid Program • The WAGES Program • Department of Health: • The Special Supplemental Food Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC program) • Any provider with whom either of these agencies contracts

8. Cont’d • Any Office that Primarily Serves Persons with Disabilities • Agency for Persons with Disabilities • Educational Institutes with Offices Serving Persons with Disabilities • Department of Education- • Division of Blind Services • Division of Vocational Rehabilitation • Centers for Independent Living • Public Libraries • Military Recruitment Offices

9. (cont’d) • Educational Institutes (under Higher Education Act of 1998) are also required to: • Make a good faith effort to distribute mail voter registration forms to enrolled students and to make forms generally available. (see also s. 97.0583, Fla. Stat.) • Coordinate annual drives and other activities with Supervisors of Elections

10. What Are You Required to Do? Each time someone applies in or through your office for • . . . new services or assistance • . . . renewal of such services or assistance • . . . change of residential address . . . offer that person the opportunity to also apply for new voter registration in (Florida) or to update (current Florida) registration record.

11. To Whom Do You Offer it? Anyone (U.S. Citizen) who is 18 years or older Anyone (U.S. Citizen) who qualifies to be a ‘pre-registrant’ Any 17 year old Any person younger than 17 who is being issued or has been issued a driver’s license (includes ‘permit’). . .as young as 15 years old. Parental or guardian co-approval/co-signature is not required). • If electronic system does not allow you to input voter registration information on a ‘pre-registrant’, offer the person a paper application to complete. • Legislative update: 2008 Legislature passed SB866ER. If it becomes law, the class of pre-registrants changes to anyone between the age of 16 and 18 regardless of driver’s license. (Eff. January 2009)

12. Special Situation • Clients/Applicants with Protective Orders. • Do not input voter registration information. • Refer these persons with protective (violence) orders to the county supervisor of elections for registration. • Person may register (subject to 4-year renewal) with the Attorney General’s Address Confidentiality Program to obtain substitute mailing address for voter registration. (Address Confidentiality Program, Attorney Genera/Victim’s Compensation Office, The Capitol PL-01, Tallahassee, Florida 32399-1050, Toll Free 1-800-226-6667) • Person’s voter registration is not stored in FVRS. • Person can only vote by absentee.

13. Special Situation • Clients/Applicants Who Request Address Confidentiality • Who Might They Be? Judges, state attorneys, guardians ad litem, child abuse investigators, law enforcement officers, correction officers, firefighters, human resource personnel, etc. including their spouses and children. • Why?The Florida Legislature designated these professions because of the high-risk safety concerns posed by the nature of those professions. • What is protected? Their residential address, phone number, and in some cases, even their photos, would be exempt from public disclosure. See section 119.071(4)(d), Fla. Stat. • When Does it Apply? Not until a written request is submitted. The person must make a separate request to each governmental agency that will have such information in its public records. E.g., a request to DHSMV for DL information and a request to supervisor of elections for voter registration information. Person must still provide residential address. • How Will it Be Done? The agency custodian is then responsible for ensuring that the residential address and other protected information is not released in a subsequent public records request.

14. General Procedures-Providing Someone the Opportunity to Apply to Register or Update a Current Voter Registration Record

15. Give the person a preference form to read and sign. Note: If interaction is electronic or over the phone, provide or read the form to the client

16. Purpose 1: To provide the person with the following statutorily required voter registration information such as: Preference Forms • Right to apply or decline to apply to register or update a voter registration record through your office. • Right to ask and receive the same level of assistance in filling out the voter registration application as you provide that person in seeking other agency services or assistance.

17. Preference Forms-Cont’d Right to privacy under the law as to information such as whether the person declined to register or update his or her records or information as to the office where he or she did apply to register. Right not to have the amount or nature of government services or public assistance be affected, influenced or otherwise dependent by one’s decision to apply or decline to apply to register to vote or otherwise update one’s voter’s records.

18. Preference Forms-Cont’d Purpose 2: To track voter registration agency activities under NVRA It is a record of whether you are complying with the law by asking persons if they want to apply to register to vote/update their voter registration records. It is a record of whether and how persons are taking the opportunity to register/update their voter registration records through your agency or office.

19. Other Things to Consider About Preference Forms • Public libraries are not required to use preference forms.They are the only exception. • Preference forms can be photocopied and written notations made on them to document what you do.

20. What Do You Do If Someone Says ‘No I don’t want to register or update my record?’ 1. Accept the person’s decision and record it on preference form. Person may decline orally and/or by refusing to complete or otherwise sign an application. 2. Retain the original preference (declination) form for two years as required by law. 3. Forward any submitted incomplete/unsigned voter registration applications to the supervisor of elections no later than 5 days of receipt.

21. What Do You Do If Someone Says ‘Yes, I want to apply to register or I need to update my voter registration record?’ • Intake • If face-to-face, (in office or home), provide person with voter registration application to complete or direct the person to a computer to fill out online form (available at Division of Elections’ website at: http://election.dos.state.fl.us/regtovote/regform.shtml) • If over the phone, fill out preference form and retain in file. Send person a copy of preference form and blank voter registration application. • If electronic process, collect additional voter registration information not already obtained as part of the services for which the person came in.

22. Cont’d 2. Assistance: If face-to-face, offer to help fill out the application and if help is accepted, provide the same level of help you would give in helping the person get services through your office. (s.97.058(3)(b), Fla. Stat.) 3. Review and verification: Give the person the opportunity and time to review (visually or by reading out-loud the application for someone who is visually impaired) and to verify and/or correct the accuracy of the information he or she wrote or that you inputted for him or her before accepting the application (which the person may or may not hand-in).

23. You should focus on helping the applicant complete at a minimum the required (marked in red or black) fields on an application form. Be sure the person reads the instructions/information at the top of the application. You do not determine someone’s eligibility to register. Only the Supervisor of Elections determines eligibility. You are not responsible for applicant’s choice to leave a required or optional field blank. Send the application “as is” to the local supervisor of elections. Assistance-Points to Remember

24. Assistance-What Has to Be Filled In • Name and Date of Birth (required) • ‘Check the Boxes’ (required) • Citizenship • Felony conviction-Rights Restored • Mental incapacity Adjudication-Rights Restored • Personal identifying number (required) • Florida Driver’s License Number • Florida State Identification Card Number • Last 4 digits of the Social Security Number • If none of the above issued, person must write “NONE”

25. Assistance-Important Application Fields-Cont’d • Legal Residence (required) • Current physical presence at address someone intends to make as his or her permanent residence. • Shelter where a homeless person resides. • Address of a place where a person docks his/her river or houseboat. • Address of student’s parent where university student is staying for indefinite period. • Address where someone receives mail regularly.

26. It must contain the original signature of the applicant (It attests that person read the OATH.) No one can sign for the applicant ---no parent, no person under authority of power of attorney, a guardian, etc. can sign for another person. A person can sign with an “X” or other mark if that is all his or she is capable of due to a physical disability or that is the way the person always signs his or her signature. Assistance- Important Application Fields (cont’d) Signature and Date (required)

27. Assistance- What does not have to be filled in? • Phone number • Former name • Former address • Gender • Race/ethnicity • State or country of birth • Political party affiliation • All other fields that are not highlighted as required (poll worker, assistance to vote, military service, etc.)

28. Assistance-Important Field-Political Party Selection-Cont’d Political Party Affiliation is an optional field but person’s choice or lack of choice affects if he/she may vote in certain contests and for whom in Primary Election or Presidential Preference Primary Election (PPP). Why is important to pick a party? Florida is a closed Primary Election state. What does that mean? Voters registered with one political party can not vote for candidates of another political party in a contest in a primary election or the PPP. There are 3 exceptions: 1) All voters can vote for non-partisan candidate races. 2) All voters can on issues like constitutional amendments. 3) All voters can vote for partisan candidate races if all the candidates are from the same party and the winner of the primary race faces no opposition in the General Election (known as Universal Primary)

29. Political Party Selection-Cont’d How confusing can it be? Very. It is important to know what the person intends. There are 2 major political parties and 30 minor political parties registered in Florida so when someone says: “I want to register as independent.” No-party? Independent Democrats of Florida? Independent Party of Florida? Independence Party of Florida? “I want to register as a Democrat.” Florida Democratic Party? Independent Democrats of Florida? “I want to register as a ‘socialist.’ Florida Socialist Workers? Socialist Party of Florida? Party for Socialism and Liberation-Florida? “I want to register as a Libertarian.” Libertarian Party of Florida? Progressive Liberarian Party? Party for Socialism and Liberation? Be sure to ask for clarification and to have always have the most current list of registered political parties or refer to political party list on Division of Elections’ website at: http://election.dos.state.fl.us/online/parties.shtml

30. Assistance-Points to Remember • Do notinfluence or try to influence someone to pick a particular political party affiliation. • Do notdisplay any political party affiliation or party allegiance. • Do notsay or do anything that discourages someone from registering to vote. • Do notreveal any person’s registration information for any purpose other than administration of voter registration

31. Let person know that he or she can submit the new application or an update through your office and that you will forward it to supervisor of elections for further processing. Tell the person to call the supervisor of elections office within 2 weeks if he/she has not heard from the that office or otherwise received a voter information card by that time. Assistance (cont’d)

32. Other Statutory Obligations of Voter Registration Agencies • Must provide voter registration services at the person’s home IF your agency is also providing non-voter registration services at the person’s home. (s. 97.058(4), Fla. Stat.) • Establish procedures for providing voter registration services to the applicants who apply for services by telephone. (s. 97.058(5), Fla. Stat.)

33. General Procedures: What If Someone Drops Off or Mails in a Paper Voter Registration Application to Your Office? 1. Accept it even if the application is from someone living in another Florida county, if application is incomplete, or if person filled out invalid application. 2(a). If hand-delivered, stamp date of receipt on application. Do not include the agency name or address in the date stamp. 2(b). If mailed-in, keep envelope with mailed-in application. Do not discard post-mark envelope, regardless of whether post-mark date is clear or not.

34. Cont’d: 3. Enclose all applications (date-stamped hand-delivered applications and mailed-in applications with their post-mark envelopes) in an envelope or courier bag. • Mark the exterior of the envelope or courier bag clearly with your office/agency name and location. This allows the county supervisor of election to record in FVRS from where the applications came (“source code”). • Forward to the local county supervisor of elections’ office within 5 days of receipt (or be sure that courier service picks up no later than 5 days). (ss. 97.58(4), Fla. Stat.; stricter than NVRA 10-day requirements).

35. Why Date Stamp a Hand-delivered Application? • Date of receipt stamp = the date of voter’s registration, if . . • Application is hand-delivered • Application is complete at time of submission If application is incomplete, the date of registration is the date all required information to determine eligibility is received. Supervisor of Elections/voter registration official has up to 13 days thereafter to input voter registration information to input it into FVRS.

36. What is the Importance of a Postmark on a Mailed Application? • The date of post-mark = the date of registration, if • Application is mailed • Application is complete at time of submission. If application is incomplete, the date of registration is the date all required information to determine eligibility is received. If no post-mark date or postmark date is unclear, then date received by SOE or Division of Elections becomes date of registration unless received by supervisor of election within 5 days after book closing. Then book closing date = date of registration.

37. 1. Agency-created forms approved for use by the Florida Department of State. What Are the Valid Voter Registration Forms?

38. 2. Florida Statewide Voter Registration Application (DS-DE #39 Version 01/08) Discard any blank forms dated older than 2006. May use left-over 2006 Voter Applications until December 31, 2008. Use the 2008 form whenever possible.

39. 3. National Mail Application

40. 4. Federal Post-Card Application (FPCA) andAbsentee Ballot Request Primarily used by voters subject to the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA): 1. Members of the United States uniformed services on active duty and the Merchant Marine, their spouses and dependents, 2. United States citizens residing outside of the United States Dual function-FPCA serves as request for an absentee ballot which is good for the next two regularly scheduled general elections.

41. Do you accept or reject a hand-delivered or mailed-in application if it is not one of these valid forms? • NO. Accept it anyway. Process as you would any other valid application received even if it is not completed. Supervisor of Elections will determine the validity of the form and eligibility of registrant.

42. Florida Voter Registration Procedures • Supervisor of elections’ office is the only entity that determines eligibility of person to register based on a completed application. If the person is eligible, the person becomes a registered voter. Supervisor sends out a voter information card typically within 14 – 30 days. • Voter information card is a reference card that contains officially recorded FVRS information including a person’s name, date of birth, legal residential address, registration date, registered political party or no-party affiliation, congressional, and other office districts, and assigned voting precinct assigned.

43. Why Is It Important to Know That An Application Came From or Through a Voter Registration Agency? It gives you credit for the fact that persons are using your agency as a point of entry (i.e., location or manner) through which to apply or submit a new registration or update for processing.

44. Cont’d • The agency or office or manner by which an application is sent or submitted to the supervisor of elections gets assigned a source code number. • FVRS records 7 major source codes as follows: • DHSMV/Tax collectors’ offices (who issue driver’s licenses) • Mail • Public Assistance • Offices serving persons with disabilities (educational institutes w/ offices serving students with disabilities falls also under this code) • Military Recruiters • Public Libraries/Centers for Independent Living • Other-(SOE’s Office, third-party registration drives)

45. Cont’d Source code data recorded in FVRS is used to compile statistical information about NVRA activities by your agency. Florida Department of State reports voter registration source data to the U.S. Elections Assistance Commission (EAC). The EAC uses that information to issue its bi-ennial report to Congress about the level of voter registration activity occurring at DHSMV and other NVRA voter registration agencies and the effectiveness of the law.

46. Source Percentage

47. Registration Activity Level • As of March 2008, there are over 10.3 million active registered voters in the State of Florida. That number includes pre-registrants. Over 4 million on inactive list.

48. If NVRA Is Not Followed? • What: Civil Remedy-Administrative Complaint/Court Action (s. 97.023, Fla. Stat., 42 U.S.C. 1973gg-9) • Who: Any person who alleges violation of voter registration or removal process under NVRA/Florida Election Code or Florida Election Code against Department of State, Supervisor of Elections, DHSMV, Voter Registration Agency, or Armed Forces Recruitment Center • How: Informal dispute resolution; mediator appointed • When: • Within 30 days, • Within 20 days (if violation occurred within 120 days (3 months) of election), or • Immediate court action (Bypass administrative process) if violation occurs within 30 days of state/federal election and person’s right to vote is affected. • What else: Award of attorney fees

49. If NVRA Is Not Followed . . . (cont’d) • Civil Remedy-Declaratory/Injunctive Relief by U.S. Attorney General/Department of Justice (42 U.S.C. s. 1973gg-9) • Criminal Penalty for Knowing and Willful Violations Fine + Max. 5-year Prison for intentional threats, intimidation, or undue influence as to a person’s ability to register or to vote, or for fraud in voter registration application process (42 U.S.C. 1973gg-10)

50. When Can a Person Apply to Register to Vote? Any time. However, in order to vote in an upcoming election, the person must either be registered by the 29th day before the election or have submitted a complete application by that date. (s. 97.055, F.S.)