**[SEIMS HAVA Policies and Procedures]{.underline}**

[**Overview 2**](#overview)

[**Initial Implementation 3**](#initial-implementation)

[**Registration ID Requirements 3**](#registration-id-requirements)

[**What Constitutes A "By Mail" Voter Registration Form?
3**](#what-constitutes-a-by-mail-voter-registration-form)

[**Contents of Mail-in Registration Forms
4**](#contents-of-mail-in-registration-forms)

[**Drivers License Number Validation Function
6**](#drivers-license-number-validation-function)

[**Keeping Driver License Numbers and Last 4 Digits of Social Security
Numbers Confidential
7**](#keeping-driver-license-numbers-and-last-4-digits-of-social-security-numbers-confidential)

[**Provisional Voting 8**](#provisional-voting)

[**Processes In SEIMS after the State Database is in Place
12**](#processes-in-seims-after-the-state-database-is-in-place)

[**Drivers License Validation 12**](#drivers-license-validation)

[**Assignment of Unique Voter Registration (ID) numbers
13**](#assignment-of-unique-voter-registration-id-numbers)

# Overview

The State Board of Elections is making changes to the State Elections
Information Management System (SEIMS) to support the Help America Vote
Act (HAVA). In 1996 the General Assembly directed the state to develop
and implement a computerized statewide elections management system to
support efforts of the state and county boards. The resulting State
Election Information Management System (SEIMS) is a suite of
applications that automates and standardizes voter registration and
elections' management processes. It is currently used by 96 of the 100
counties in the state for all their processing. To comply with the Help
America Vote Act of 2002 (HAVA) all 100 counties will be converted to
use the SEIMS system by January 1, 2006. SEIMS will be updated to meet
the requirements of HAVA.

This document is divided into two sections. One section addresses
procedures implemented to address the HAVA requirements before the full
state database is in place and the second addresses the changes being
made once all 100 counties are on the state system.

# Initial Implementation

The implementation before the state database is in place for all 100
counties addresses the ID requirements for voters who register by mail,
processing the new fields on the voter registration form and the
recording of provisional voting status.

### **Registration ID Requirements**

The HAVA legislation, effective January 1, 2003, requires that new
voters who register by mail provide valid identification described below
either when they register or before they vote in 2004.

The new registration forms state:

*If you do not have a driver's license or social security number, and
this form is submitted by mail, and you have never registered to vote in
the county you are now registering in, you must send, with this
application, either a.) a copy of current and valid photo
identification, or b.) a copy of a current utility bill, bank statement,
government check, paycheck, or other government document that shows the
name and address of the voter. If you do not provide the information
requested above, you will be required to provide to election officials
either a. or b. above the first time you vote at a voting place or by
absentee ballot.*

The SEIMS system validates voter provided drivers licenses numbers with
the state department of motor vehicles system. Voters who register by
mail and provide a valid driver license number will not be required to
provide additional identification prior to voting in 2004. Recording the
fact that additional identification is received will continue to be
important for voters without a driver license.

### **What Constitutes A "By Mail" Voter Registration Form?**

In SEIMS processing by mail registrations are identified by the source
code entered by the user. By Mail Voter Registration consists of:

a.  "06" Mail or Fax forms, regardless of delivery method.

b.  "NORTH CAROLINA DEPARTMENT OF MOTOR VEHICLES Web" forms
    [mailed]{.underline} to the Board of Elections, excluding those
    delivered in person.

c.  "00" Federal web forms [mailed]{.underline} to the Board of
    Elections, excluding those delivered in person.

d.  "09" Spanish language forms [mailed]{.underline} to the Board of
    Elections, excluding those delivered in person.

e.  "07" In Person or Voter Registration Drive forms **from voter
    registration drives,** regardless of delivery method.

All voter registration forms received from an Agency, applications
received in the County and State Board of Elections or by an agent of
either, shall be considered an "in person" registration, regardless of
delivery method.

All voter registration forms sent to the Board of Elections directly by
State Public Assistance Agencies, State Disability Agencies, North
Carolina Department Of Motor Vehicles, Libraries, and High Schools are
***not*** considered mailed registrations, even if the agency uses the
US Mail to deliver the registrations to the Board of Elections office.

New source codes have been defined within the system to manage
applications that are received by mail and applications that include or
require additional identification. The source codes are:

> **00 - No Application Source \***
>
> **01 - Public Assistance (AGENCY)**
>
> **02 - Disability (AGENCY)**
>
> **03 - Other (ESC) (AGENCY)**
>
> **04 - Armed Forces (AGENCY)**
>
> **05 - Department Of Motor Vehicles (AGENCY)**
>
> **06 - Mail-in or Fax *\****
>
> **07 - In-person & Drives**
>
> **08 - Library & High School**

9.  **- Spanish Language Application**

> **15 - Department Of Motor Vehicles by Mail \***

17. **- Registration Drives \***

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19. **- Spanish Language App by Mail \***

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97. **- Temporary Registrant**

98. **- Confirmation Returned by Voter**

99. **- Verification Returned by Voter**

*\* These source codes require notation that ID has been provided when
the application includes valid additional identification. For NVRA
reporting purposes, source code 15 will be reported with source code 05,
source code 17 will be reported with source code 07, and source code 19
will be reported with source code 09.*

Acceptable additional identification includes a valid and current photo
identification, such as a driver license or passport, or a copy of one
of the following that shows the name and address of the voter:

-   A current utility bill

-   A bank statement

-   Government check

-   Paycheck

-   Other government documents (county or state issued voter
    registration cards, i.e., voter cards, are excluded and do not
    qualify as other government documents).

The SEIMS user will enter that ID was provided. If a drivers license
number or the last four digits of the SSN was not provided, the voter
checked the box indicating they had neither and the voter supplied one
of the above forms of ID. If this request is part of the absentee voting
process SEIMS will require that the user enter the type of ID provided.

### **Contents of Mail-in Registration Forms**

The new voter registration forms, comply with the HAVA legislation, and
include the following:

-   The question "Are you a citizen of the United States of America?"
    and boxes for the applicant to check to indicate whether or not the
    applicant is a citizen of the United States.

-   The question "Will you be 18 years of age on or before election
    day?" and boxes for the applicant to check to indicate whether or
    not the applicant will be 18 years of age or older on election day.

-   The statement "If you check 'no' in response to either of these
    questions, do not complete this form."

If an original applicant for voter registration fails to answer the
question included on the mail voter registration form "Are you a citizen
of the United States of America?" by checking the box to indicate
whether the applicant is or is not a citizen of the United States, the
registrant shall notify the applicant of the failure and provide the
applicant with an opportunity to complete the form in a timely manner to
allow for the completion of the registration form prior to the next
election. HAVA does not include similar rules for requiring the checkbox
beside the question "Will you be 18 years of age on or before election
day?" be completed.

New voter applications whose "Yes" check box is not checked beside "1)
Are you a citizen of the United States of America?", even when
identification is provided with the application, are initially rejected
and approved for registration only after the information is completed
and returned by the voter per the normal reject process.

These applications are rejected after it has been determined that the
application is for a ***new*** voter. This does not apply to updates to
existing voters.

The SEIMS support for rejecting this type of application uses the
following process:

-   SEIMS sets the reject reason to OTHER REASON

-   SEIMS then sets the 2^nd^ line of reject reason to CITIZENSHIP CHECK
    BOX NOT UPDATED

-   This reject is then processed by generating a reject letter to the
    voter with a copy of their application attached instructing them to
    complete and sign the documentation and return to the County Board
    of Elections.

**Driver License Numbers and Last 4 Digits of Social Security Numbers**

The new voter registration forms now require the North Carolina drivers
license number, the last 4 digits of the Social Security Number or an
indication that neither was provided.

The driver license number is be entered on any voter's electronic record
whenever it is provided on the voter registration application. This is
done for new and existing voters if the number is included on the form.

The last 4 digits of the Social Security Number are entered on any
voter's electronic record that includes it on the voter registration
application. This is done for new and existing voters if the number is
included on the form.

If a voter provides both the driver license number and the last 4 digits
of the Social Security Number, the driver license number is stored in
lieu of the last 4 digits of the Social Security Number.

If a voter provides a full Social Security Number, only the last 4
digits are entered into the electronic record.

Applications that include neither a driver license number nor the last 4
digits of Social Security Number are processed as they normally would,
are ***not*** rejected. If additional ID is required the SEIMS system
will track this, generate a letter to the voter and note that ID is
required in the poll list.

Original applications submitted on the pre-HAVA voter registration
application are stopped being processed after January 1, 2004.

### **Drivers License Number Validation Function**

SEIMS will automatically check the status of a driver\'s license number
when a record is saved or rejected. An electronic message is sent to
North Carolina Department Of Motor Vehicles in an asynchronous manner.
The SEIMS user will view the results of this validation from the
verification or reject queue. SEIMS then allows the user to review the
status of the Drivers License number validation.

**Explanation of Drivers License Validation Statuses**

The data is considered valid if the driver\'s license number, last name,
first name, and birth date match a valid driver\'s license number with
the North Carolina Department Of Motor Vehicles. The 'REVIEW' status is
to allow for the possibility that a difference exists between North
Carolina Department Of Motor Vehicles records and Board of Elections
records but may be for the same person. For example department of motor
vehicles may have a first name of Tom and the Voter Registration may
have Thomas. In these cases the county board of elections can mark the
driver's license valid.

If the driver's license status returned from the department of motor
vehicles is \'NOT FOUND', the id will be considered 'INVALID'. If the
driver's license status returned from the department of motor vehicles
is 'DECEASED', the id will be considered 'INVALID'.

The North Carolina Department Of Motor Vehicles uses a concept of
"Customer Numbers" rather than "Driver's License Numbers". Some of these
customer numbers have been assigned to individuals who have not been
issued any identification, for example, an out-of-state driver who
receives a traffic ticket in North Carolina is assigned a number. These
numbers have not been issued to any individual for purposes of
identification. They will have a status of 'NOT ISSUED' and the id will
be considered 'INVALID'. All other driver's license statuses are
considered valid.

The SEIMS \"Absentee Information\" support is also changed to address
HAVA requirements if the voter is new, registered by mail since 1/1/03
and has not provided id or a valid Drivers License number. If the type
is one stop or simultaneous issuance, the user will be warned that the
voter must provide id. The printed Absentee Application will contain a
message to the voter if they have not satisfied ID requirements. When
the application is returned, it will not be able to be processed until
the id requirements are satisfied and the type of id provided is
recorded

The Voter Card contains a short informational message if id is required
to vote. The message is \"ID required\".

New informational letters to voters that have missing or incorrect IDs
are automatically generated and queued for printing. For voters who are
required to identify themselves before they vote (i.e. New, By-Mail
voters) and have not yet satisfied this requirement a report will
provide a personalized letter. This letter will indicate that some ID
information is missing, incorrect or cannot be validated and will
instruct the voter of options to ensure their ability to vote.

As new voters are verified by the Check Wait Period task, any voter that
needs to provide ID will have an ID Status Letter queued to be printed.
The system generates letters for any voters who were added to SEIMS,
require ID and have been verified by the Check Wait Period. The check
wait period process will help insure that the system has a valid address
for these voters. The county board of elections may choose to generate
mailings for all of the voters requiring ID an additional time before
each election this year.

**Processing ID letters returned by voters**

When voters return the ID letters to the board of elections with
additional information, the SEIMS user enters the information into
VoterScan using 00 (No application source) as the source code and
process them as usual.

When letters are returned undeliverable without a forwarding address, no
additional action will be taken by the county. These records will be
processed during the standard list maintenance.

When ID letters are returned undeliverable with a forwarding address, a
new voter application will be mailed to the forwarding address.

The Voter Registration List (Poll List) report, generated by SEIMS, has
been modified to indicate voters who must show ID before voting.

### **Keeping Driver License Numbers and Last 4 Digits of Social Security Numbers Confidential**

Reports distributed to the public do not contain either the driver
license number or the last 4 digits of the Social Security Number.
(SEIMS complies with this).

Electronic files distributed to the public do not contain either the
driver license number or the last 4 digits of the Social Security
Number. (SEIMS complies with this).

Public access computers do not display either the driver license number
or the last 4 digits of the Social Security Number. (SEIMS complies with
this).

The public may not have access to physical voter documents while either
the driver license or the last 4 digits of the Social Security Number
are visible. When requests are made by the public to access original
voter applications, a copy of the application is made and the driver
license numbers and/or Social Security Numbers are struck through so
that they are not visible.

Neither a voter's driver license number nor the last 4 digits of the
Social Security Number may be verbally communicated to the public.

### **Provisional Voting**

Any voter may cast a provisional ballot for any reason. Listed below are
the categories under which they would cast a provisional ballot:

A.  **Unreported moves voters** (who have moved more than 30 days before
    the election but failed to report the change of address),

B.  **No record provisional voters** (who claim to have registered but
    for whom there is no record as registering in the county),

C.  **Previously removed voters** (who were removed as part of list
    maintenance, but claim continuous residence and the right to vote),

D.  **Jurisdictional dispute voters** (who are registered but whose
    assignment to a voting district is questioned\-- either by the voter
    or the registration record),

E.  **Incorrect precinct provisional voters** (who appears as registered
    in another precinct within the county, but states a desire to vote
    in the incorrect precinct in which the voter appears).

F.  **Special provisional voters** (who appear after the 7:30 p.m. poll
    closing and vote by virtue of a lawful order)

G.  **Voters that did not produce required identification** (who are on
    the poll books with a note that they must show ID)

If a voter falls into one of the categories above, the voter will be
informed that they may cast a provisional ballot. If she/he elects to
cast a provisional ballot the voter will complete a Provisional Ballot
Envelope (which includes a Registration/Update Form. The poll worker
will record the voter's information on the Provisional Poll Book and
record the PIN on the Provisional Ballot Envelope, the Voter Instruction
Sheet and the Poll book. The ballot and the Provisional Ballot Envelope
are provided to the voter. The voter is instructed to

-   Mark the ballot

-   Place the ballot in the Provisional Ballot Envelope and seal the
    envelope

-   Return the sealed envelope to the Precinct Official who gave him/her
    the forms

The poll worker will give the Provisional Voter Instructions sheet to
the voter and place the sealed Provisional Ballot Envelope into the
appropriate storage container. If the ballot is one cast after the poll
has closed, the box beside "VOTED AFTER EXTENDED HOURS" in the "FOR
OFFICE USE ONLY" area of the Ballot Envelope will be checked. The
envelope will be placed in the container marked "EXTENDED HOURS
PROVISIONAL BALLOTS**".**

When provisional ballots are returned to the county board of elections,
board of elections employees will enter provisional voter information
into the Provisional Voting support in SEIMS including the PIN number
given to the voter. The board of elections will attempt to validate
(from SEIMS) that the voter is registered by querying all queues. If
information is found to indicate this is a valid voter the ballot will
be stored appropriately and recorded as counted in SEIMS. If information
indicating the voter is valid is not found the ballot will be stored in
"do not count" box and the information entered into SEIMS indicating why
the ballot was not counted and why it was not counted.

The County board of elections will convene to approve/disapprove
provisional ballots. After the County Board Of Elections completes its
task, the board of elections employee will:

1.  Record Board actions that disagreed with the original County Board
    Of Elections employee recommendations

2.  Record the County SEIMS provisional statuses as approved and
    finalized on the State DB. The database is then locked and the
    County Board Of Elections cannot make additional changes without
    special approval from the State Board of Elections. The application
    will be deployed at the county level, with database replication to a
    state-wide central database. The state data will be accessible
    through the web or by calling a toll free number and providing the
    voters PIN number.

3.  The system will generate entries to record voter history if the
    ballot was counted, and a voter contact if the ballot was not
    counted.

The voter will be able to retrieve the information about their vote on
the NC State Board of Elections web sit and by calling a toll free
number. They will have to give their name and pin number to retrieve the
information in this manner. The information about whether the vote was
counted can also be obtained in person at the county or state board of
elections offices. In this case the name and pin number is not required
to obtain the information.

The following diagram shows an overview of the SEIMS process for
handling the recording of provisional voting. ![](media/image1.wmf)

Provisional Ballot Envelope

![](media/image2.png){width="6.888888888888889in"
height="8.597222222222221in"}

# Processes In SEIMS after the State Database is in Place 

Changes will be made to the SEIMS software and the process after the
2004 election and before January 1, 2006. These changes will be
implemented to address the HAVA requirements that go into effect when a
full state database is in place. All 100 counties will be migrated to
SEIMS by that date. These SEIMS process changes will address the HAVA
legislation that states:

> *(i) IN GENERAL.---Except as provided in clause (ii), notwithstanding
> any other provision of law, an application for voter registration for
> an election for Federal office may not be accepted or processed by a
> State unless the application includes---*
>
> *(I) in the case of an applicant who has been issued a current and
> valid driver's license, the applicant's driver's license number; or*
>
> *(II) in the case of any other applicant (other than an applicant to
> whom clause (ii) applies), the last 4 digits of the applicant's social
> security number.*
>
> *(ii) SPECIAL RULE FOR APPLICANTS WITHOUT DRIVER'S LICENSE OR SOCIAL
> SECURITY NUMBER.---If an applicant for voter registration for an
> election for Federal office has not been issued a current and valid
> driver's license or a social security number, the State shall assign
> the applicant a number which will serve to identify the applicant for
> voter registration purposes.*

### **Drivers License Validation**

SEIMS will be modified to require that a driver's license number, 4
digits of a SSN or an indication that the voter has neither be entered
regardless of the application source. If none of these are provided the
registration will be put in the reject queue and it will not be
processed.

If the new registration or a change to an existing record, includes a
drivers license number, SEIMS will automatically validate the number. If
the number is not valid SEIMS will put this registration in the reject
queue. The same rules for determining the validity of the drivers
license number will be used as those being used in the current SEIMS
release. The data is considered valid if their driver\'s license number,
last name, first name, and birth date match a valid driver\'s license
number with the North Carolina Department Of Motor Vehicles. The
'REVIEW' status is to allow for the possibility that a difference exists
between North Carolina Department Of Motor Vehicles records and Board of
Elections records but may be the same person and valid. For example
department of motor vehicles may have a first name of Tom and the Voter
Registration may have Thomas. If the driver's license status returned
from the department of motor vehicles is \'NOT FOUND', the id will be
considered 'INVALID'. If the driver's license status returned from the
department of motor vehicles is 'DECEASED', the id will be considered
'INVALID'. The North Carolina Department Of Motor Vehicles uses a
concept of "Customer Numbers" rather than "Driver's License Numbers".
Some of these customer numbers have been assigned to individuals who
have not been issued any identification, for example, an out-of-state
driver who receives a traffic ticket in North Carolina is assigned a
number. These numbers have not been issued to any individual for
purposes of identification. They will have a status of 'NOT ISSUED' and
the id will be considered 'INVALID'. All other driver's license statuses
are considered valid. If the last 4 digits of the SSN is include and the
Social Security Administration provides support to valid this
information, a similar process to the DMV process will be followed.

In either case, if the supplied number is invalid the registration will
be put in the reject queue and a mailing will be made to the voter
indicating that the data is invalid. If the voter is a new voter, the
voter will not be listed in the poll list. If the voter is an existing
voter, in the state, the changes will not be made until the correct
information is provided.

If the registration form or change to an existing record, does not
include a Drivers License number or 4 digits of an SSN and the
registration does not have a check in the box on the registration form
indicating that the registrant has no drivers license or SSN the
registration will be put in the reject queue and a mailing will be made
to the voter indicating that the data is invalid. If the box is checked,
a unique ID will be assigned to new voters and the registration will
follow the normal voter registration flow. If this is a by mail
registration the identification rules for by mail registrations in the
previous release of SEIMS will continue to be followed. When the
applicant registers by mail and provides the last 4 digits of their
social security number or a NC Drivers License number that is not
validated by DMV, they will be required to provide additional
identification before or when they vote for the first time. This is the
same process that is currently in place with the exception of this now
applying to the first time they vote in the state. This currently
applies to the first time they vote in the county.

### **Assignment of Unique Voter Registration (ID) numbers**

All voters will be assigned a unique statewide voter registration number
or ID number when their data is entered into SEIMS. When voter
registration information for either new voters or updates to data for an
existing voter is being entered, the SEIMS will search the state
database to determine if the voter is currently registered in any county
in the state. The comparison will be made on first name last, last name
and birth date. If a drivers license number was provided and there is a
drivers license in the state databases existing data this will also be
used in the comparison. If a previous name is given, this will also be
used in the comparison. If more than one voter is found to meet the
criteria a list of possible duplicates will be returned to the SEIMS
user in the county entering the registration.

This will be an extension to the current preexisting voter check
currently performed by SEIMS within the county. The check will now
become a full statewide compare using the state database.

When a match to the voter who is registering is not found, the voter
will be registered as a new voter and a new unique statewide voter
registration number or ID will be assigned. The indications that ID is
required before voting will use this check, rather than the county only
check. If the voter is not found to be previously registered in the
state and this is a by mail registration the rules used in the previous
release will apply

As changes to existing voters are made, the existing voter registration
number in the state database will be used. If this change is being made
to a voter in the county where they are currently registered, the update
will be made in the counties copy of the state date and replicated to
the state in real time to update the state database. When the change
involves a movement of a voter from one county to another the voter's
record will automatically be marked as removed from the old county in
both the state database and the counties copy of the data. The voter
registration number that exists in the state database will continue to
be used for that voter. A letter will be generated in the previously
registered county notifying the voter that they were registered in the
new county and removed as a voter in the previously registered county.
This letter will be sent to the previous address with DO NOT FORWARD
instructions.

The SEIMS processing will be as follows. When voter is entered into
VoterScan, the system will:

-   Check the state voter database to see if there is a match:

> Attempt to match on Last Name, First Name, Birth Date, NC DL#. If
> system brings up data, then user will match visually on previous
> address, and state of birth.

-   If a previous name and address are given, this will also be used in
    the comparison.

-   If no match occurs, assign the voter a unique NC ID.

-   If a match occurs, process according to following business rules:

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-   If the voter is registered in another county and their status is
    Active or Inactive,

-   SEIMS generates a message to the state database, which in turn will
    generate an update transaction to the county in which the voter was
    registered

-   The update transaction will change the voter's status to "R" and
    Reason_code to "RL"(Removed) in the county from which they moved

-   The system will send a message (e-mail) to the County BOE notifying
    them that the change has been made

-   The indications that ID is required before voting will use this
    check, rather than the county only check. If the voter is not found
    to be previously registered in the state and this is a by mail
    registration the rules used in the previous release will apply.