NVRA Compliance

1
NVRA Compliance

• Agency Responsibilities under the National Voter
  Registration
• Act of 1993

2
Compliance is Mandatory

• The NVRA is a federal law designed to increase
  citizens access to voter registration
  opportunities.
• Under the NVRA, the States voter registration
  agencies MUST offer voter registration services
  to each person applying for service or
  assistance, renewing or recertifying eligibility,
  or submitting a change of address.
• The States voter registration agencies include
• Local department of social services units
  providing Temporary Cash Assistance, Medicaid,
  and Food Stamps
• WIC offices
• Local offices of the Maryland Children's Health
  Program under the Department of Health and Mental
  Hygiene
• All offices primarily engaged in providing
  State-funded services to individuals with
  disabilities, including the Maryland Transit
  Administration Paratransit Certification Office
• Recruitment offices of the armed forces of the
  United States
• Offices on aging and
• Offices for students with disabilities at private
  and public colleges and universities.
• Note Special requirements apply to the Motor
  Vehicle Administration, marriage license offices
  of the clerks of court, and public institutions
  of
• higher education. This PowerPoint does not
  cover those requirements, which can be found at
  COMAR 33.05.03.01 et seq.

3
Applications for Benefits, Recertifications or
Renewals, and Address Changes

• A voter registration application and a
  declination form must be provided with each
  application for service or assistance and with
  each recertification, renewal, or
  change-of-address form relating to that service
  or assistance.
• Unless the applicant refuses assistance, the same
  level of assistance that is provided in the
  completion of the agencys own application forms,
  including bilingual services when necessary, must
  be provided in completing a voter registration
  application and/or declination form.
• Voter registration services must be provided even
  if the interaction with the client is remote
  (e.g., by phone, internet, or mail).

4
Prohibited Activities

• Personnel may not
• Seek to influence an applicant's political
  preference or party registration
• Display any political or candidate preference or
  party allegiance
• Make any statement or take any action the purpose
  or effect of which is to discourage the applicant
  from registering to vote or
• Make any statement or take any action the purpose
  or effect of which is to lead the applicant to
  believe that a decision to register or not to
  register has any bearing on the availability of
  services or benefits.

5
Confidentiality

• No information relating to a declination to
  register to vote may be used for any purpose
  other than voter registration.
• The particular agency through which an individual
  registered may not be publicly disclosed.

6
Declination Forms

• A declination form must be provided with each
  application for service or assistance and with
  each recertification, renewal, or
  change-of-address form relating to that service
  or assistance. A sample declination form may be
  obtained from the State Board of Elections.
• The declination form must include
• the question, If you are not registered to vote
  where you live now, would you like to apply to
  register to vote here today?
• if the agency provides public assistance, the
  statement, Applying to register or declining to
  register to vote will not affect the amount of
  assistance that you will be provided by this
  agency.
• boxes for the applicant to check to indicate
  whether the applicant would like to register or
  declines to register to vote (failure to check
  either box being deemed to constitute a
  declination to register), together with the
  statement (in close proximity to the boxes and in
  prominent type), IF YOU DO NOT CHECK EITHER BOX,
  YOU WILL BE CONSIDERED TO HAVE DECIDED NOT TO
  REGISTER TO VOTE AT THIS TIME.
• the statement, If you would like help in filling
  out the voter registration application form, we
  will help you. The decision whether to seek or
  accept help is yours. You may fill out the
  application form in private. and
• the statement, If you believe that someone has
  interfered with your right to register or to
  decline to register to vote, your right to
  privacy in deciding whether to register or in
  applying to register to vote, or your right to
  choose your own political party or other
  political preference, you may file a complaint
  with the State Board of Elections, P.O. Box 6486,
  Annapolis, MD 21401-0486, 1-800-222-8683.
• Completed declination forms must be retained by
  the agency for at least 22 months after the
  federal election to which the registration would
  first apply.

7
Registration Assistance

• The agency must provide to each applicant who
  does not decline to register to vote the same
  degree of assistance with completing the voter
  registration application as is provided by the
  agency with regard to the completion of its own
  forms, unless the applicant refuses such
  assistance.
• Applicants who are interested in registering
  should be encouraged to complete the voter
  registration application at the office to help
  ensure that it is turned in.

8
Transmitting Completed Applications to the Board
of Elections

• Each voter registration agency must accept
  completed voter registration applications for
  transmittal to the appropriate election board. An
  applicant also has the option of mailing the
  voter registration application to the appropriate
  local election official or returning it to the
  agency for transmittal to the appropriate
  election official after completing it elsewhere.
• Within 5 days from the acceptance of a voter
  registration application, the agency must forward
  the application to the appropriate board of
  election.
• In order to facilitate required reporting, the
  agency must submit applications to the
  appropriate board of election using a transmittal
  form indicating the voter registration agencys
  identity. A sample transmittal form may be
  obtained from the State Board of Elections.
• The agency also must ensure that it uses only
  voter registration applications that contain the
  NVRA logo.

9
Signs and Voter Registration Applications in
Waiting Rooms

• Each voter registration agency should maintain an
  adequate supply of voter registration
  applications in an accessible and visible
  location in client waiting areas. The State
  Board of Elections has plastic voter registration
  application holders.
• The agency also should display signs in waiting
  areas indicating (1) that voter registration
  forms are available, (2) that completed forms may
  be left with the office for forwarding to
  election officials, and (3) that assistance is
  available with completing the forms.
• Each agency also should post in its waiting areas
  the State Board of Elections Register to Vote
  Here posters.
• To obtain the plastic holders, posters, and a
  sample sign, contact Mary Cramer Wagner,
  Director, Voter Registration Division, State
  Board of Elections.

10
Ordering Voter Registration Applications

• Each voter registration agency is responsible for
  ensuring that each local office has an adequate
  supply of voter registration applications. Do
  not wait until applications run out to request
  new ones.
• When ordering voter registration applications
  from the State Board of Elections or the local
  boards of election, it is important to expressly
  request forms containing the NVRA logo. The
  presence of the logo assists the State Board of
  Elections with maintaining federally required
  voter registration data.

11
NVRA Coordinator Duties

• Each voter registration agency is required to
  have a NVRA Coordinator. The NVRA Coordinator is
  responsible for overseeing the agencys
  compliance with the NVRA.
• The NVRA Coordinator must maintain a list of the
  agencys NVRA Site Coordinators answer agency
  questions on NVRA procedures monitor NVRA
  compliance (including collecting and analyzing
  data on the agencys NVRA activities) and oversee
  any necessary corrective action plans serve as a
  liaison with the State Board of Elections ensure
  that the agency is meeting the NVRAs
  recordkeeping requirements ensure that local
  offices have adequate supplies of voter
  registration applications and declination forms
  and ensure that staff, including any volunteers,
  are trained on their NVRA duties.

12
NVRA Site Coordinator Duties

• Each local office that provides voter
  registration services must have a NVRA Site
  Coordinator. The NVRA Site Coordinator is
  responsible for overseeing the offices
  compliance with the NVRA.
• The Site Coordinators duties include
  recordkeeping in accordance with the NVRA
  ensuring that staff, including any volunteers,
  have been trained on their NVRA duties acting as
  a liaison with the agencys NVRA Coordinator and
  the local boards of elections ensuring that the
  office has an adequate supply of voter
  registration applications and declination forms
  and ensuring that completed voter registration
  forms are forwarded to the appropriate election
  officials in a timely manner.

13
Questions

• If you have any questions, contact
• Mary Cramer Wagner
• Maryland State Board of Elections
• Director, Voter Registration Division
• 151 West Street, Suite 200
• Annapolis, Maryland 21401
• [phone]