Understanding the Official List of Registered Voters

1. Understanding the Official List of Registered Voters Texas Secretary of State Elections Division

2. What to Expect? • Election Lists provided by the Voter Registrar • Official List of Registered Voters (OLRV) • Supplemental List • Registration Corrections List Texas Secretary of State Elections Division

3. Understanding the OLRV Section 18.061 • TEAM is the Official List of Registered Voters in the state. As such, all lists should be pulled from TEAM for use in elections. • The statewide list is required to • contain the name and registration information of each voter registered in the state • Assign a unique identifier (VUID) to each registered voter • Be available to any election official in the state through immediate electronic access • Counties are required to provide on an expedited basis the information necessary to maintain the registration list. Texas Secretary of State Elections Division

4. Understanding the OLRV Section 18.061 • Information eligible for suppression must be suppressed under law. • To ensure the list is up to date and accurate, counties should work their tasks. Texas Secretary of State Elections Division

5. Understanding the OLRV Section 18.001 • A list of voters, including Suspense and Active statuses, whose registration will be effective (EDR) on the date of the election. • Must be provided prior to the beginning of early voting • Must be provided to authorities responsible for procuring election supplies – including political subdivisions or territorial units. • If a political subdivision is requesting a list for an election, the request must be delivered early enough to afford the registrar reasonable time to prepare timely lists. Texas Secretary of State Elections Division

6. Understanding the OLRV Section 18.001 • The Registered Voters report is not the same as the OLRV. • The OLRV takes into account the EDR of a person. • As a practical matter, the only way to produce an OLRV in TEAM is to first set up an associating election for the list to key off. • The OLRV is the list that should be provided in preparation for an election. Texas Secretary of State Elections Division

7. Questions & Answers Question: A local entity is having an election and has requested a list of voters in their territory, but they are not currently a jurisdiction in TEAM. How should I handle this? Answer: In order to provide the information, the entity should provide the registrar with a map detailing their boundary lines. You will need to establish the district in TEAM and assign all street ranges to the district that are appropriate. You can then run a registered voters list for the local entity or an OLRV as appropriate. NOTE: You are responsible for providing a list of voters within boundary lines; however, public information deadlines do not apply to such a request. We recommend that you work with the entity to provide the list in the timeframe needed. (Sec. 18.006). Texas Secretary of State Elections Division

8. Questions & Answers Question: If I provide the entity with a list of registered voters, do I also need to provide them with an OLRV? Answer: If the entity is conducting an election using that list, then yes. The OLRV is the official list for every election being held within a jurisdiction. A registered voters list may be used as a stop gap measure to help the entity gauge how many people may be eligible to vote in an election, but it should not be used in place of the OLRV. Texas Secretary of State Elections Division

9. Questions & Answers Question: What happens if the territory is in multiple counties? Answer: For jurisdictions in which an entity needs an OLRV, but the territory crosses county lines, then each county will need to provide the OLRV for the portion of voters that fall within their county. If the entity has contracted with a county to conduct the election, the OLRV from the other county will still need to be obtained in order to have a complete list of voters. Texas Secretary of State Elections Division

10. Questions & Answers Question: The territory provided me a list of people impacted by their establishment. Not all of these are registered voters. How do I handle this? Answer: The voter registrar is responsible for providing an OLRV for a jurisdiction. This list will only be those voters who are eligible to vote in an election based on the date of the election and the date their registration becomes effective in the county/territory. There is no authority for a voter registrar to enter individuals into the statewide system in order to return a single list back to the entity. Rather, the registrar should only establish the jurisdiction and provide an OLRV for the entity. Texas Secretary of State Elections Division

11. Questions & Answers Question: I see a number of different notations on the OLRV. What do they mean? Answer: Different columns appear on the OLRV to convey information about a voter that may impact how a voter is processed during voting. • ID = If “ID” appears under the ID column, then the voter is required to show identification when voting, even when voting by mail. Once the voter has voted or provided proof of identification, the ID notation should no longer appear on the OLRV. Texas Secretary of State Elections Division

12. Questions & Answers Question: I see a number of different notations on the OLRV. What do they mean? Answer: Different columns appear on the OLRV to convey information about a voter that may impact how a voter is processed during voting. • S = If “S” appears under the SUSP column, then the voter is on suspense. The voter should complete a Statement of Residence at the time of Voting in an election when voting either via mail or in person. Texas Secretary of State Elections Division

13. Questions & Answers Question: I see a number of different notations on the OLRV. What do they mean? Answer: Different columns appear on the OLRV to convey information about a voter that may impact how a voter is processed during voting. • Information in the Voted/Rejected Column – This displays a full list of ballot activity that has occurred during an election (see the record layout appendix for that list) depending on how the person has cast their ballot. In addition, during a primary run-off, this column is used to display information pertaining to the party in which a person cast a ballot during the primary, if applicable. (DEM = Voted in Democratic Primary or REP = Voted in Republican Primary) Texas Secretary of State Elections Division

14. Understanding a Supplemental List Section 18.002 • A list supplementing each OLRV furnished to the authority containing voters, including Suspense and Active statuses, whose registration will be effective (EDR) on the date of the election but whose name does not appear on the OLRV • In TEAM, this is the same report as the OLRV, but a date is added to the report request. • Voter Registrars should provide supplemental lists to Election Officials at a minimum to use during early voting. Texas Secretary of State Elections Division

15. Understanding a Supplemental List Section 18.002 • A supplemental list is produced by entering a date on the parameters screen when running the Official List of Registered Voters. This date should be the date the last list was run. • The supplemental list keys off the status change date, meaning that it will provide any new registration or information on a registration in which the status has changed. Texas Secretary of State Elections Division

16. Understanding a Supplemental List Under 18.005(a) (4), the Supplemental List must contain the notation required by Section 15.111 (notation "S”). Thus, any time that the voter registrar changes a voter’s status, such as going from Active to Suspense, that individual would appear on the supplemental list in accordance with 18.005(a)(4) with the “S” notation. Conversely, if you move a voter from Suspense back to Active status, they would appear on the Supplemental list without the notation, again, in accordance with 18.005(a) (4) (The registrar shall delete the notation from the list if the voter's name is deleted from the suspense list). The same, then, would be true of any voter going from a cancelled status to an active status. This individual would show on the Supplemental list of registered voters in accordance with 18.002. Texas Secretary of State Elections Division

17. Understanding a Supplemental List • Section 15.111. NOTATION ON LIST OF REGISTERED VOTERS. (a) The registrar shall enter the notation "S", or a similar notation approved by the secretary of state, on the list of registered voters beside each voter's name that also appears on the suspense list. • (b) The registrar shall delete the notation from the list if the voter's name is deleted from the suspense list. Texas Secretary of State Elections Division

18. Understanding a Registration Correction & Revised Original List Section 18.003 – Registration Correction List • This list must contain: • The name of each person for whom the information on a list of registered voters (either OLRV or Supplemental Lists) has changed because of cancellation or correction. • An indication that the person’s registration has been cancelled or the corrected registration information. • Note: This report is not available in TEAM • Section 18.004 – Revised original List • In lieu of supplying an OLRV, Supplemental and Registration Correction lists, a voter registrar may choose to provide a single revised original list. Texas Secretary of State Elections Division

19. Understanding a Registration Correction & Revised Original List Some counties use the Revised Original List in combination with the Precinct Early Voting List • 87.121 – Early Voting Roster – Updated Daily by Early Voting Clerk • 87.122 – Precinct Early Voting List (Election Day use) • Section 87.121. EARLY VOTING ROSTERS. (a) The early voting clerk shall maintain for each election a roster listing each person who votes an early voting ballot by personal appearance and a roster listing each person to whom an early voting ballot to be voted by mail is sent. Texas Secretary of State Elections Division

20. Forms and Contents of List Section 18.005 • Each OLRV and Supplemental List must: • Contain the voter’s name, date of birth and registration number as provided by the statewide computerized voter registration list • Contain the voter’s residence, unless the individual is covered under confidentiality • Be arranged alphabetically by voter name; and • Contain the notation “S” for voters in a Suspense Status. NOTE: If an address is not available, a concise description (parcel address) may be used instead. Texas Secretary of State Elections Division

21. Delivery of Lists Section 18.006 • The lists discussed in this section include either: • The OLRV, Supplemental and Registration Corrections lists, or • The Revised Original list • They should be provided to the appropriate election authorityfor each election in which the list is to be used • before the beginning of early voting by mail • before the beginning of early voting by personal appearance if the lists provided do not contain the names of all voters who will be eligible to vote as of the beginning of early voting by personal appearance • before election day if the lists provided do not contain the names of all voters who will be eligible to vote on election day. This list should be delivered as soon as practicable after processing the remaining applications. Texas Secretary of State Elections Division

22. Delivery of Lists Section 18.011. FILE OF LISTS FOR COUNTYWIDE ELECTION. (a) The registrar shall maintain a file containing one of each of the lists prepared under this subchapter for each countywide election. • (b) The registrar shall retain each list on file for two years after election day except a list used in a presidential election, which shall be retained for four years after election day. • NOTE: There is no specification regarding electronic or paper format for retaining these. As such, we would recommend that the format in which the list was provided be the format in which it is retained. Texas Secretary of State Elections Division