In Focus This Week
DOJ makes changes to submission format for VRA jurisdictions
Online submission should streamline process for department and jurisdictions
By M. Mindy Moretti
electionline.org
While people have been doing everything — from paying bills and taxes, to making medical appointments, to submitting complicated financial aid applications — online for years, some governmental agencies have been slower to join the online ranks.
The U.S. Department of Justice only recent caught up with the times by allowing jurisdictions that are subject to review under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 to submit their changes online instead of by mail.
Under the VRA, certain states and localities are required to submit all changes in their voting process to federal court in the District of Columbia or to the department for review. The department has 60 days to complete its review. Previously, the submissions had to be mailed or faxed, or in many cases, sent by express mail.
Currently, all, or parts of 16 states are subject to the preclearance process, including the entire states of Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina and Texas, as well as parts of California, Florida, Michigan, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, South Dakota and Virginia.
According to a press release from the department, “through the E-submission program, Section 5 jurisdictions will now have a secure, online environment in which to file their submissions. The online system will ensure that the department obtains the information necessary to review the voting change expeditiously, resulting in an easier, faster process for both the submitting officials and the department.”
The old mail/fax system created a host of problems for many of the jurisdictions.
“In the past, the Division has experienced difficulties confirming that hard copy preclearance documents are received and processed by the DOJ,” said Whitney H. Brewster, director of the Alaska Division of Elections.
On one occasion, the Division sent a preclearance request via overnight mail, and delivery was confirmed by DHL on Jan. 31, 2007. However, when speaking later with a DOJ official, they indicated the document had not been recieved until Feb. 23. As a result, the preclearance to hold Alaska’s Special Statewide Advisory Vote Election was obtained late, and was recieved only two weeks prior to Election Day.
Ann McGeehan, director of the Texas Elections Division said that while she had never had any real problems with the old mail-in submission format, she is certainly interested in seeing how the new electronic submission process works.
“It should speed up the process,” McGeehan said. “We will certainly try it out and then we will decide which process works best for us.”
Brewster is eager to give the new system a try.
“Although the Division has not yet attempted to make a preclearance submission electronically or evaluated functionality of the portal, it is my hope that the option to make electronic submissions will make the administrative review process easier for both state and DOJ officials,” Brewster said. “In addition, I believe the electronic submissions will save time since traditional paper-based formats spend many days in transit between the division and DOJ.”
Because the process is streamlined, the department hopes it will give them more time to reach out to concerned citizens and local groups about any pending changes.
Election Reform News This Week
- The United States Election Assistance Commission (EAC) has issued the Quick Start Management Guide for Voting System Certification which covers the process at the federal, state and local levels. “As the federal government takes on the new role of certifying voting equipment, it is important to make sure election officials and the public are informed about the new process, and how it will impact similar efforts at the state and local levels,” said EAC Chair Donetta Davidson. The new guide covers certification procedures at the federal level and provides information about participating in the program. The guide provides suggestions for implementing effective certification procedures at the local and state level, including verification of non-technical issues such as qualification and ownership. It also includes information about acceptance testing and other security procedures.
- Questions still remain after the August 11 table games election in Kanawha County, W.V. Thirty-seven percent of the counties registered voters cast a ballot and the measure was approved by a slim margin of only 33 votes. Nearly 10,000 votes were cast in early voting. But, according to The State Journal, the Kanawha County Clerk’s Office uncovered about 155 votes election night that were counted at the last minute and another 438 uncounted votes that were discovered a few days later. Plus, more than 500 provisional ballots remain as well, the legality of which will be decided during the vote canvass in Kanawha County. The Kanawha County Commission will determine during the canvass which votes will be counted and correct the results because it turns out one of the precincts somehow was counted twice. Whether the vote canvass takes one day or five, however, everyone expects a result will be announced. But that conclusion may be temporary at best, with a strong possibility of legal action and lingering questions about factors that may have influenced the election.
- With the recent decertification of voting systems in California, one county is considering going to an an all-mail voting system. With nearly 52 percent of Nevada County’s voters already voting absentee, County Clerk and Registrar Gregory Diaz is considering the idea. “We’re looking at that as a statement,” Diaz said Tuesday. “I’m a proponent of a Nevada County all-mail ballot election.” Diaz told the Board of Supervisors the state legislature first would have to approve all-mail elections for counties. He said if all-mail elections are approved, he also would open about five polling places on election days for disabled voters to meet federal law.
- The first votes in the 2008 presidential election have been cast and already there are problems with the counting. On Aug. 11, more than 30,000 Republicans in Iowa showed up to cast their votes in a straw poll, but the counting was marred by a voting machine malfunction involving about 1,100 votes, or about 8 percent of the total cast. According to The Washington Post, the mishap was especially embarrassing as it followed a federal lawsuit Friday by supporters of Rep. Ron Paul (Tex.), who argued that the Diebold Election Systems machines were prone to problems. A federal judge denied the request for an injunction blocking the voting, and an appeals court upheld that ruling Saturday.
Opinions This Week
National: Election fraud
Alabama: Voter registration database
California: Voting technology, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, IX, X, Napa County registrar
Connecticut: Voting error fine
Florida: Voter registration, Voting technology
Indiana: Marion County elections
Maine: Primaries
Michigan: Voter ID, Primaries, II
Mississippi: Voting problems, Vote counting
New Hampshire: Primaries
New Jersey: Primaries, Voting technology
New York: Voting technology
North Carolina: Primaries, Instant run-off voting
Ohio: Primaries
Oregon: Vote tally system
Tennessee: Primaries
Washington: Felon voting
West Virginia: Kanawha County vote
Job Postings This Week
All job listings must be received by 12 p.m. Eastern on Wednesday for publication in our Thursday newsletter. Job listings are free but may be edited for length. Whenever possible, include Internet information. Please email job postings to mmoretti@electionline.org
Election Clerk III, Anne Arundel and Carrol Counties and Baltimore City. An Election Clerk III is the full performance level of specialized clerical work in a local election office. Employees process and maintain voter records and apply election laws, rules and procedures to work problems. Employees in this classification do not supervise. Employees receive general supervision from an Election Supervisor, Election Deputy Director or Election Director. The work may require local travel to schools, nursing homes or other facilities to register voters or provide related services. Employees may be required to work evenings and weekends, particularly prior to and following an election. Qualifications: High school diploma or equivalency certificate; One year of experience applying election laws, rules and procedures in a local board of election office. Salary: $24,744-$37,147. Application: Applications may be obtained by visiting our website at: www.dbm.maryland.gov; by writing to DBM, OPSB, Recruitment & Examination Division, 301 W. Preston Street Baltimore, Maryland 21201; or by calling 410-767-4850, toll-free: 800-705-3493; TTY users call Maryland Relay Service, 800-735-2258. Deadline: Aug. 31, 2007.
Election Coordinator, Solano County, Calif. Under direction of the Registrar of Voters, this position will be responsible for coordinating the department’s technical resources, including the voter registration system, ballot layout and processing, GIS, election setup and canvass, and public requests for data. The ideal candidate will have experience with DIMSNet; ES&S voting systems, including AutoMark; or with other common California voter registration and ballot processing systems. Familiarity with Crystal Reports, Microsoft Office including Access, and Adobe products is also desirable. Qualifications: Two (2) years of lead or progressively responsible experience preparing, processing tracking and evaluating the activities relating to conducting federal, state, local and special elections; or two (2) years of general office experience that included lead responsibility for a large, routine or small complex work unit with experience in supervision and technical operations and some elections related experience. Experience may have included working in an elections office and completing tasks related to conducting elections and/or participating in a variety of election activities. OR Completion of 60 semester units or 90 quarter units of coursework from an accredited college or university with coursework in Government, Political Science, Business Administration, Business Management or a closely related field. Salary: $52,966 – $64,380. Application: www.solanocounty.com/jobs
Election Data Application Specialist, Harford County, Md. An Election Data Application Specialist II is the full performance level of specialized data processing work in a local election office. Employees produce and verify data output. Employees in this classification do not supervise but may provide advice and guidance to Election Data Application Specialist I’s and other support staff. Employees receive general supervision from an Election Director, Election Deputy Director or other designated administrative staff. The work may require travel to data processing locations to attend meetings or to perform other assignments such as voter registration. Employees may be required to work evenings and weekends, particularly prior to and following an election. Qualifications: One year of experience in data entry and high school diploma. Salary: $27,876 – $42,077. Application: Applications may be obtained by visiting our website at: www.dbm.maryland.gov; by writing to DBM, OPSB, Recruitment & Examination Division, 301 W. Preston Street Baltimore, Maryland 21201; or by calling 410-767-4850, toll-free: 800-705-3493; TTY users call Maryland Relay Service, 800-735-2258. Deadline: Aug. 27, 2007.
Election Data Application Specialist, Howard County, Md. An Election Data Application Specialist II is the full performance level of specialized data processing work in a local election office. Employees produce and verify data output. Employees in this classification do not supervise but may provide advice and guidance to Election Data Application Specialist I’s and other support staff. Employees receive general supervision from an Election Director, Election Deputy Director or other designated administrative staff. The work may require travel to data processing locations to attend meetings or to perform other assignments such as voter registration. Employees may be required to work evenings and weekends, particularly prior to and following an election. Qualifications: One year of experience in data entry and high school diploma. Salary: $27,876 – $42,077. Application: Applications may be obtained by visiting our website at: www.dbm.maryland.gov; by writing to DBM, OPSB, Recruitment & Examination Division, 301 W. Preston Street Baltimore, Maryland 21201; or by calling 410-767-4850, toll-free: 800-705-3493; TTY users call Maryland Relay Service, 800-735-2258. Deadline: Aug. 27, 2007.
Election Data Application Specialist, St. Mary’s County, Md. An Election Data Application Specialist II is the full performance level of specialized data processing work in a local election office. Employees produce and verify data output. Employees in this classification do not supervise but may provide advice and guidance to Election Data Application Specialist I’s and other support staff. Employees receive general supervision from an Election Director, Election Deputy Director or other designated administrative staff. The work may require travel to data processing locations to attend meetings or to perform other assignments such as voter registration. Employees may be required to work evenings and weekends, particularly prior to and following an election. Qualifications: One year of experience in data entry and high school diploma. Salary: $26,257-$39,529. Application: Applications may be obtained by visiting our website at: www.dbm.maryland.gov; by writing to DBM, OPSB, Recruitment & Examination Division, 301 W. Preston Street Baltimore, Maryland 21201; or by calling 410-767-4850, toll-free: 800-705-3493; TTY users call Maryland Relay Service, 800-735-2258. Deadline: Aug. 27, 2007.