United States Election Assistance Commission

1. United States Election Assistance Commission Developing Accurate Voter ListsAssociation of European Election Officials September 10, 2010Commissioner Gineen Bresso

2. Elections in the United States Decentralized system Each of 50 states, the District of Columbia and US territories have an election authority that oversees almost 7,000 local election jurisdictions that serve 177+ million voters Most laws and regulations governing elections have come from the states

3. The Help America Vote Act of 2002 • First time US federal government funded election reform • Required states to implement the following for federal elections • Provisional voting • Administrative complaint procedures • Voting systems that meet basic requirements; states decide which voting systems to use • Statewide voter registration databases • Created the US Election Assistance Commission

4. About the EAC Independent, bipartisan Four Commissioners – two from each party Provide voluntary guidance Administer voluntary voting system certification program Distribute HAVA funds Administer the National Clearinghouse on election administration Maintain the national voter registration form

5. Statewide Voter Registration Databases HAVA requires every state to have one "a single, uniform, official, centralized, interactive computerized statewide voter registration list defined, maintained, and administered at the state level.” North Dakota is the exception The goal: maintain accurate voter rolls Election officials must perform regular maintenance regarding the accuracy and completeness of the registration lists In addition, the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) of 1993 establishes rules under which names may be removed from voter registration lists

6. Statewide Voter Registration Databases It is up to states to determine how to create databases. Three examples: A centrally designed and maintained database where all data is kept in one location. A more decentralized model where local jurisdictions regularly transmit their databases to the central office for compilation. And a mix of the two aforementioned models

7. EAC’s Role Per HAVA, issue guidance on the databases Initial guidance adopted in 2005 States can use HAVA funds to purchase & maintain databases Partnered with the National Academies of Science to inform us as EAC works to update the 2005 guidance

8. Improving Statewide Voter Registration Databases Report Includes data gathered from the states about their databases and short-term and long-term recommendations for improvement and implementation Recommendations cover the following subject areas:   Public education and dissemination of registration information Administrative processes and procedures Funding registration databases Data collection and entry Matching procedures Privacy, security, and backup Database interoperability 

9. Next Steps Finalize statewide databases guidance based upon research, election official and stakeholder input Collect best practices from election officials Inform Congress about the status of HAVA funds and statewide databases

10. EAC.gov Read the statewide voter registration report and the 2005 guidance on our Web site

11. Thank You! It’s an honor to be here with you I hope to take your ideas and innovations back to election officials in the U.S. And I hope our innovations will be helpful to you