Election

Signature

Retrieval

Systems

Election

Signature

Retrieval

Systems

Author:

Ralph C. Heikkila

Heikkila Associates

P.O. Box 1230

Pioneer, California 95666-1230

Managed and Edited by:

William C. Kimberling

National Clearinghouse on Election Administration

Published by:

National Clearinghouse on Election Administration

Federal Election Commission

Washington, D.C. 20463

August 1992
Introduction by the

Clearinghouse

This report is the third in our series on Innovations in Election Administration being published by the FEC's National Clearinghouse on

Election Administration.

The purpose of this series is to acquaint State

and local election officials with innovative election

procedures and technologies that have been

successfully implemented by their colleagues

around the country.

Our reports on these innovations do not

necessarily constitute an endorsement by

the Federal Election Commission either of

the procedures described or of the vendors

or suppliers that might be listed within the

report. Moreover, the views and opinions

expressed in these reports are those of the

author and are not necessarily shared by

the Federal Election Commission or any

division thereof.

We welcome you comments on these reports as

well as any suggestions you may have for additional topics. You may mail these to us at:

The National Clearinghouse on

Election Administration

Federal Election Commission

999 E. Street, N.W.

Washington, D.C. 20463

or else call us

toll free on 800/424-9530 or

direct on 202/219-3670.
Election

Signature

Retrieval

Systems

Productivity, the word so often heard in management in the '80s continues with us into the

'90s. With shrinking budgets managers are constantly asked to do more with less. Many computer

systems have delivered less than promised in the

areas of reducing labor costs and processing times.

With Signature Retrieval Systems promises seem

to be fulfilled in the experiences of the majority of

election jurisdictions nationwide that have chosen to install these systems.

The labor intensive, time consuming task of

checking the validity of voter's signatures on

petitions, candidate nominations, absent voters

and mail ballot elections has become a very significant problem for elections administrators. As

the popularity of voting by mail and the initiative

process continues to grow the workload also has

risen.

The increased workload has caused many jurisdictions to choose computers to aid in the

verification of signatures. Leading the way were

Pinellas, Orange and Dade Counties in Florida.

These systems provide an image of the voter's

signature on a computer monitor screen that is

manually compared to a voter's signature on

another document, eliminating the need to search

through paper files or microfilm. Many agencies

have found that without these systems they would

not be able to meet the legal deadlines for verifying

signatures because of the volume of work.

Some jurisdictions have reported a 300% improvement in productivity. Palm Beach County,

Florida states that one person can check 1,200

signatures per day with their automated signature retrieval system (SRS). Under their manual

process one person could check only 400 signatures per day. Manpower hours in this jurisdiction have been reduced overall by one third. Most

agencies surveyed, like Monterey County in California, report significant savings in their absent

voter and petition checking process with these

systems.

Generally, the signature retrieval systems operate as follows. After a voter registration document is checked to make sure it is completed

properly, the document is scanned, with a document scanner or video camera. Scanning, also

called digitizing, is taking an electronic copy of a

document or signature by converting it to a series

of dots.

To associate the signature with the voter record,

usually, it is necessary for the operator to enter

data from the document before scanning. In other

systems the operator enters data, on the same

screen on which the image is displayed, as is true

with the Los Angeles County, California system.

At time of scanning, the system allows the

operator to examine and adjust the image before

causing it to be stored on magnetic or optical disk.

Several systems store the document on optical

disk and the signature on magnetic disk. Doing

this improves responses times for retrieving signatures that are required much more frequently,
than is the whole image of the document. Response time is the amount of time the computer

requires to retrieve the requested information

and display it on the screen.

Those jurisdictions that store the image on

optical disk, do so to have a duplicate of their

paper document and, in some cases, to eliminate

microfilm. Some jurisdictions make a backup of

the optical disk platter. The backup platter is

stored in an off-site location, much as they do with

backups of the magnetic data files. This can

provide them with a means to recover should

their facility be destroyed by fire or other disaster.

Once stored, the document or image can be

retrieved and displayed on a computer screen. A

person can use the displayed signature image to

validate a signature on another document.

While most of the systems are used for petitions and absent voter processing, Sarasota

County, Florida has extended the use of their

hardware and software investment. They have

implemented a separate system for tracking Loyalty Oaths, Appointments of Treasurer information and Treasurers reports for Candidates and

PAC's using their signature retrieval equipment.

The more sophisticated systems allow signature retrieval with the data entry functions for

tasks such as checking petitions and returned

absent voter ballots. In these cases, the operator

can immediately update the petition or absent

voter data base with the results of the signature

check. With some systems, one checks the signature, makes a notation and then later enters the

results of the check to the appropriate data base.

Signature retrieval system hardware can include the following: personal computer with

monitor( screen), keyboard, mouse(pointer device),

floppy disk and hard disk; backup tape unit;

optical disk unit; document scanner or video

camera; and a laser printer.

Purpose and Approach of Report

The purpose of this report is to help state and

local election administrators, especially those

jurisdictions without data processing staff, by

providing a review and benefits assessment of the

current state of signature digitization technology.

Agencies already using signature retrieval

technology were surveyed and have willingly

provided input to this article. We have consolidated and reported their experiences with these

systems. This article shares their best ideas and

cautions to those who come behind them.

It is important to clarify that this report is not

evaluating or comparing systems currently offered in the marketplace. No endorsements of

vendors or their systems are made or intended.

Vendors providing these systems were usually a

good source of information and referral.

Besides identifying agencies where the technology is currently being used, the report explains background, history, technology, benefits,

costs and problems associated with signature

retrieval systems in elections.

We contacted all the states and the territories

to ask for referrals to jurisdictions where these

systems were currently in use. Two questionnaires were prepared. One was sent to the fifty

Secretaries of State to ask them to identify jurisdictions where the systems are in use in their

state. We received replies from thirty five states.

When specific referrals were received from the

state office, we sent a detailed thirteen page

questionnaire to the local agency asking about

their system and experiences associated with

installation. Fifty agencies in ten states were

sent the longer questionnaire. Twenty-two were

returned by local jurisdictions from the states of

Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, New York,

Oregon and Washington. Several sites, in Florida

and California, were visited where these systems

are working in production.

The information received was summarized to

provide the information needed for this article. It
makes recommendations about what to look for

should you be considering installation of a signature retrieval system, in your jurisdiction.

Definitions

The following definitions intend to clarify usage of terms used in this report.

Signature Digitization - is the function of

scanning a signature or document to encode the

image of a signature in a computer. The captured

image is much like the image on a television

screen. The image is stored on magnetic media,

such as disks or tape, or on an optical storage

device.

Signature Retrieval - this term, as used,

includes digitizing, retrieving and displaying a

document or signature on a screen or report.

Signature Verification - the process where a

person compares a signature on a screen to a

signature on another document.

Automated Signature Verification - the

process where a computer compares a signature

on one document to another signature on a data

base. Currently installed signature retrieval

systems cited in this article do not have this

capability. In the opinion of the authors, we

believe that it will be at least a decade before

these systems are economically feasible.

The reason for the delay is two-fold: one, we

don't write our signature the same way each time

we sign our name. This requires the computer to

match things that are not the same. Second,

making the comparison at speeds comparable to

those being achieved with existing systems. This

type of matching will require much faster computers with artificial intelligence.

Image Compression and Expansion - Images are a form of computer graphics representing the data in dots or pixels (picture elements).

With the data scanned and displayed, measured

in dots-per-inch, much of the image consists of

"white space." Most image scanning and retrieving systems use image compression to reduce the

amount of magnetic or optical disk space required

to store the image. Image compression also reduces the amount of data that must be transmitted

from storage to be displayed thus improving response time for displaying an image.

A simple explanation of compression and expansion is as follows. With compression, a blank

line on a screen requiring eighty characters can

be reduced to a few characters of a formula.

Compression of an image occurs before storing it

on a storage device.

Expansion happens after an image is read from

storage and before the image is displayed on a

screen or printed. It uses the mathematical

formula to put the "white space" back in the blank

line.

In most systems, compression is done with

software, although some use special computer

hardware boards that are usually faster and can

provide greater compression of the image.

Background and Beginnings

The Technology

Signature retrieval systems go back to the

earliest days of microfilm, which is an application

of Document Image Management (DIM). Microfilm, beginning in the early 1970s', as a computer

driven technology, was first used to address the

needs of paper look-up tasks.

Signature retrieval systems use what is known

in the computer industry as Document Image

Processing (DIP). The DIP technology became

possible in the 1920s' with the transmission of

pictures over trans-atlantic cable. Practical applications came during the 1960s' space program.

Phillips, a Dutch company, invented the optical disk in 1969. The optical disk is used for

storing the image of a document. The first Signature Retrieval System in a business application

occurred in the early 1970s', in Sweden. When

IBM's World Trade Corporation installed a sys-
tern used to verify checking account signatures

for a banking system.

Signature retrieval technology became economically feasible with the arrival of personal

computers, in the early 1980s'. These systems

combined personal computers with optical disks,

document scanners and laser printers. This is the

base technology for signature retrieval systems.

Online access was allowed to documents stored

on an optical or magnetic disk to be retrieved via

a computer terminal through its data base index.

The laser printers provided excellent hard copy

reproduction of the digitized data.

Automated signature verification will use

Document Image Analysis (DIA). DIA includes

extraction of lines and curves in images, classification of objects using boundary information,

texture analysis and analysis of images for estimating the motion of objects. These are the processes a computer will need to use to compare one

signature to another. For more information on

these technologies, periodicals such as "OPTICAL

INFORMATION SYSTEMS," can be very informative.

Development begins in Florida

Development and implementation of Signature Retrieval Systems for use in elections began,

in Pinellas County, Florida, in 1986. Our survey

shows that many counties in Florida have since

installed these systems. Pinellas, Dade and Orange Counties have been the innovators and

trailblazers in using these systems.

Petition signature checking requirements have

been the impetus in many election agencies to

install signature verification systems. Recent

experiences with right-to-die petitions in the State

of Washington suggest that legal deadlines could

not have been met without such a system in place.

Majority of Systems are PC Based

Most of the systems seen by the authors have

been Personal Computer (PC) based, although

main frame and mini-computers may be used.

The scanning or digitizing of documents and/or

the signatures, is done on a PC. Most systems

display signatures or documents on a PC. Although, some systems use main frame and minicomputer terminals for displaying the information. Main frames and mini's are used primarily

for storing the data, while compression and expansion of data usually occur on the PC.

Acceptance of Electronically Reproduced

Images by the Courts

Generally, information from agencies returning the questionnaire has shown acceptability of

electronically reproduced images have, yet, to be

tested in the courts, in some states.

The State of Florida has passed enabling legislation that generally reads, "an electronically

generated reproduction of an original voter registration . . . which reduction is certified by the

supervisor of elections who is custodian of the

record, is admissible as evidence in anyjudicial or

administrative proceeding . . . with the same

effect as the original voter registration record"

(Witnesses, Records and Documents section

92.295).

Florida also allows destruction of the original

master record cards, after microfilming, if they

have been maintained digitally on electronic,

magnetic or optic media. (Registration Office,

Officers and Procedures section 98.412)

Other agencies, like San Diego County, California, Registrar of Voters have found that the

California Government Code allows destruction

of the uncancelled affidavits, after microfilming,

while the Elections Code does not permit this.

Their solution is that they have proposed legislation that will eliminate the difference between

the two governing codes.

In informal discussions with Federal Election

Commission National Clearinghouse and United

States Department of Justice staff it was stated

by the Justice Department staff that the original

voter documents should be kept for at least twenty-
two months after a person last voted, as required

with ballots and other election materials.

Some jurisdictions, with whom we have communicated, have a problem with the retention of

canceled affidavits. They have indicated they do

not plan to remove them from their paper files

because it is too costly. If the documents are not

removed, they will eventually become a problem

to someone.

Many jurisdictions have shown they have savings, in filing of the original documents, by filing

them in the order received. This eliminates the

need for sorting and filing of documents. Agencies place them at the end of the file.

Description of Signature

Retrieval Systems

The systems that are available range from

signature retrieval system software only, for

scanning and retrieving a document (you buy

your own hardware), to complete election systems

with hardware. Costs vary from a few thousand

to a few million dollars. Specific costs reported by

the agencies in the survey can be found in the

appendix. The following is a brief description of

some variations that are available.

Signature retrieval systems, that use optical

disk and digitize the whole document, can be used

to replace microfilm. Some advantages of optical

disk are that it does not require developing and

the images are available immediately. Optical

disk also may be more environmentally friendly

because of the elimination of the developing

chemicals and process.

Turn Key System

Turn key systems are those that can provide

both voter registration and signature retrieval

module, in one package. Frequently, these systems also provide modules for absent voters,

petitions, polling places, polling place workers,

precincts or election districts, and candidate filing. These modules may all be included in one

package or each can be purchased as a separate

option to "customize" the system as needed by the

jurisdiction.

Interfacing System

These systems usually provide signature retrieval only and are intended to interface with an

existing voter registration system. These may

require separate screens for displaying the voter

data and signature. Again, depending on how the

interface is accomplished it may appear to be a

"seamless" system.

Software only

Some vendors are supplying software only,

which has to be installed on the acquiring

jurisdiction's computer hardware. This can be an

option if the jurisdiction has computer hardware

or if the jurisdiction can buy the hardware at a

lower price by receiving government discounts. If

you decide to have new software written to fit

your specific needs or if you are the first customer

for new vendor software be aware as Collier

County, Florida experienced that "little" things

will come up and must be corrected by the vendor

or programmer before the system is considered

fully operational.

Equipment Required

The equipment or hardware varies widely from

one signature retrieval system to another. Numerous computer and computer peripheral

manufacturers are represented by the systems.

Computers - There are many different

manufacturer's computers used. It is important

that you buy a computer with enough memory to

service the needs of your agency. Not enough

memory or fast enough processing capabilities

will result in slow retrieval times for signatures

to be displayed on the computer screen. This

results in staff waiting for the computer to provide the requested signature. Time is wasted

resulting in lowered productivity and poor focus

on the task. Ask the vendor to recommend hardware if you are buying software only. Consider

requesting that equipment compatible to other
office computers you already have installed be

provided. Be sure that your workload is clearly

stated so the vendor can recommend the right

equipment for your site.

Scanners or Video Cameras - This equipment

is used to "scan" or digitize the document

orsignature. The scanner or camera converts the

document to an electronic image that can be

stored on magnetic or optical media. More

scanners may be required, on a rent or lease

basis, for conversion as was the case in Fulton

County, Georgia and Amador County, California.

Again, there are a large variety of

manufacturer's and equipment. The scanners

can vary from automatically fed flat-bed scanners,

that can scan large documents at rates of one a

second, to a hand held scanner that is used to scan

a signature only. Its speed is dependent upon the

manual dexterity of the operator.

Video camera scanning, while used, is the exception rather than the rule. The quality of the

video image is comparable to that of scanners, but

none have been seen that provide for automatic

feeding of documents.

Mouse - Most of the systems have a mouse device

that is used to identify the area to be scanned, if

not an automated function. The mouse is also

used to crop the signature image. The mouse can

be used like an eraser to eliminate extraneous

printing, near the signature, that may have been

digitized into the image.

Monitors - High resolution graphics monitors

give the best image display, providing the digitizing was done at a good resolution. Three hundred

dots per inch is considered very adequate. Higher

resolutions require more space and time to

transmit. Color display terminals also can be

easier for the operator to use by being able to

highlight several conditions using different colors.

Optical Disks - The optical disks used are WORM

(Write Once Read Many) type platters. The archival quality of the platters has not yet been proven,

because of the time they have been available on

the market, but it is expected to be comparable to

microfilm. The optical disk, like the magnetic

disk is easily duplicated for backup and retention

purposes. Consider offsite, storage of a duplicate

backup optical disk.

There are two primary sizes of optical disk

platters, 12 inch and 5.25 diameters. The hardware for optical disks ranges from a small desk

top unit holding one 5.25 platter; to a very large

floor unit holding over fifty twelve-inch platters.

The large units automatically retrieve platters,

much like the old jukeboxes selected records.

While optical disks need to be handled with

care, they are less vulnerable to handling than

magnetic disks. The laser light used to write and

read the data has a focal point just below the

surface of the platter. Maricopa County, Arizona

utilizes a large "Jukebox" like optical disk system

that is also used for other departmental functions.

Magnetic Disks - Here we are addressing magnetic disks, usually, used with personal computers. All of the signature retrieval systems we

encountered use non-removable hard disks to

store voter data and signature images, storing

the image on magnetic disk. The amount of data

that can be stored on a hard disk is dependent on

the size of the hard disk. At this time, the sizes

range from a small, obsolete, 10 megabyte (MB or

million bytes) drive to drives that will hold a

gigabyte (1 billion bytes) of data. The flexible or

"floppy," removable, diskette is frequently used

as backup or for temporary storage of images

until they are edited and written to the hard disk.

Printers - Laser printers will provide the best

reproduction of images. This type of printer is

highly recommended for this application.

Backup Tape Units - These units are good for

backing up large data files. A word of caution

regarding these backup tape units. There is no

standard for writing the data to the tape, so a tape

created on one manufacturer's machine is un-
likely of being read on a different manufacturer's

machine. If your agency already has backup tape

hardware for other systems, you may need to

require the same type of unit, for compatibility.

Election's staff in Pima County, Arizona caution that you ensure adequate vendor software,

and in some cases hardware support is available

in your area from your selected supplier.

Materials required

The materials required for a signature retrieval system are the same as those for any

computer system. Depending on the hardware,

you will need paper, magnetic diskettes, magnetic tape cartridges, optical disk platters, printer

ribbons and toner cartridges.

Furniture

Often overlooked in the acquisition of new

equipment, is the need for furniture such as

desks, work stations and tables on which to mount

the equipment. Desks or work stations for data

entry should have a height of approximately

twenty-seven inches. There are devices that will

allow you to adjust the height of the keyboard

that can be placed on or mounted below a regular

desk or table. You may have to experiment with

locating the equipment, but a L-shaped pattern

often works well. Chairs should be comfortable

and easily adjusted as are the pneumatically

controlled chairs.

Be aware of lighting, a window behind an

operator can cause uncomfortable glare on a

monitor screen, as can overhead lights. There are

hoods and anti-glare screens that can be useful in

reducing these problems.

Voter Registration Document

Many agencies have discovered that their old

voter registration format presented ongoing

problems for the signature retrieval system.

Described below are some problems previously

encountered and their resolution.

Document Format

Some agencies have redesigned their voter

registration document using white paper with

sharp black printing, to provide the greatest

contrast for scanning. This accommodation to the

computer system results in a pay back to the

agency in a clear easily read image on the monitor

screen, when comparison is required.

The reasons for the redesign are multiple,

often old documents are in poor condition or have

many different formats. Erie County in New

York State found that double backing on the

original registration forms resulted in scanner

misfeeds.

Consistency in format of the document is also

beneficial, especially if the signature is digitized

and stored separately, from the document. When

the whole document is going to be digitized and

stored, minimizing printing and lines on the

document will reduce the amount of storage space

required for the "electronic" image.

When there are large blocks of printed information, such as instructions, on the voter registration form, it is possible with an electronic

image to store the instructions, once only. Then

you do not have to store it with every document on

which it appears.

Signature Block

The signature block can be crucial. Ideally, the

block should be one inch in height by at least

three inches in length. Use a very light, horizontal

line, about 1/2 inch shorter than the block width,

centered in the block, on which the voter's signature is to be written. This will allow digitizing

the signature without picking up other printed

material near the signature block. This provides

a cleaner image requiring less disk storage space.

Pasco County, Florida found during conversion

that they had the following signature problems:

• Signatures requiring more space than allowed.

EH Some signatures were too light.

EH Sometimes there were no signatures.
Their solution was to send out "signature cards"

to the electorate to obtain a signature acceptable

for the project. Hillsborough County, Florida

suggests collecting signatures at Presidential

Elections using purpose designed precinct registers (white with no extraneous material encroaching on signature) and good black ink pens.

Motor Voter

Motor Voter, the registering of voters on a

driver's license application has been adopted in

some states and is likely to be adopted in more.

The format of the motor voter document can

affect signature retrieval systems. For instance,

the size and color of the document, or the size and

location of the signature block may require, additional steps to separate the documents, before

scanning. Equipment may have to be adjusted for

each different document to allow for changes in

color or location of the signature.

Elections administrators should be allowed to

provide input for any proposed document changes

to accommodate Motor Voter registration. An

advantage of this program, according to officials

in Clackamas County, Oregon is that the registration crunch before elections will be alleviated.

Uses In Elections

Petition Signatures

The primary use of signature retrieval systems

are to check petition signatures to decide that the

person signing a given petition is the same person

who registered to vote. Prior to obtaining their

system, Lee County, Florida had to "Alphabetize

petitions and then pull each individual voter

record to verify each signature. With this process

100 signatures were verified per hour. With

digitization, 100 signatures can be verified in 20

minutes or approximately 220 signatures per

hour,"

The computer can keep track of the number of

valid signatures processed and to determine

whether the signer meets residency requirements

for the petition. Also whether the candidate,

initiative, referendum of recall measure qualifies

for the ballot.

Absent Voter Signatures

Comparison checks for validating absent voter

applications or returned ballots. Mail ballot

elections are more efficiently conducted with

computerized signature retrieval.

Nomination Signatures

Candidate nominating papers are checked

against the registration signatures.

Polling Place Signatures

Erie, Monroe and Niagara Counties, in New

York, provide a roster with facsimile signatures

printed next to the voters names for the polling

places. When the voter votes on election day, it is

then a simple process for the polling place workers

to compare the voter's signature to the printed

facsimile.

Agencies Using Systems

During preparation of this paper we visited

working installations of these systems in Pinellas

and Dade Counties in Florida; and Los Angeles,

San Diego and Placer Counties in California.

Pinellas County was the first election agency to

install an operational system. The pioneering

efforts started in 1986, by Pinellas County was

closely followed by Orange and Dade counties in

Florida.

Twenty-three states have told us they either

have none or are not aware of any signature

systems in use, in their state. We were informed

that Iowa, does not require signature comparison

for any aspect of their voting process.

Since 1986, many jurisdictions have installed

these systems across the United States. Many

other Florida Counties have systems as well as

jurisdictions in the States of Arizona, California,

Georgia, Indiana, Nevada, New York, Oregon

and Washington.
Most of the systems in use have been developed

or acquired at the local level. Sometimes state

officials are unaware of their existence.

Experience

Once the system is installed, all existing active

voter registration documents must be scanned

either wholly or in part to form the basis of the

information that will be recalled during the signature checking process. Some systems have

scanners that feed the document through the

scanner station. Others have hand held scanners

requiring a person to pass the scanner mechanism

over the signature area of the voter document.

Many agencies have encountered a variety of

difficulties at this stage. Over the years, formats

of voter registration documents have changed the

location of the signature on the document. Paper

color can cause degradation of the scanned image,

background color is picked up by the scanner. The

digitizing of background causes more disk space

to be used, than required for the signature only.

Additionally, over time the actual signature

may have faded. This difficulty has been overcome

by techniques such as photocopying the original

document and enhancing the images on white

paper before the signature or document is scanned

into the system.

Fatigue of workers scanning the documents is

another factor that must be considered when

planning the document conversion. Fatigue results in errors on the file that will cause problems

later. Based on recommendations, we suggest

that workers be given a five minute rest break

every hour. This is beyond their regular morning

and afternoon breaks and lunch. This leaves

about 6.5 productive hours in a normal eight hour

work day for conversion. Placer County, California managers insisted that their staff take hourly

breaks due to the repetitive nature of the conversion work in order to eliminate errors on the file.

The conversion process of the initial scanning of

existing documents is mentioned, most frequently,

as the main problem area for installing signature

retrieval systems.

Brevard County, Florida found that the capture process was difficult on the employees because of the repetition. Their solution was to

schedule each employee for a limited time on the

conversion task. They could spend more time but

it was not mandatory.

Whenever possible, ensure that all necessary

equipment is purchased and delivered according

to your schedule. Niagara County, New York's

conversion process was slowed by the delay in

purchase of their in-house scanning equipment.

Misplaced, lost or unscannable documents have

frequently been cited as problems, in document

conversion. At least one jurisdiction sent new

registration forms to electors to fill out, to complete the installation of their system. (Clackamas

County, Oregon)

One county suggested having a detailed plan

for the conversion effort and to check 100% of the

images to make sure they have been identified

with the correct voter. ( San Diego County, California)

A couple of counties said they had documents

with signatures that were too large or light to be

digitized. One county reduced the large signatures on a copy machine before scanning. Darkening of light signatures was achieved using

a copy machine. (Dade and Pasco Counties,

Florida)

Another jurisdiction said the blue paper used

for their voter registration document was picked

up as background during the scanning. Other

printing on the document was digitized with the

signature. This problem could only be solved with

a new form. (Pinellas County, Florida)

Mojave County in Arizona suggested that you

make sure the system you select is compatible

with your existing software and hardware.

Be prepared to expend effort and time to backup

data and signatures on a regular basis. Backup

9
will probably have to be done outside normal

business hours. ( Fulton County, Georgia )

We have also learned some jurisdictions are

considering updating the signatures from polling

place rosters. ( Hillsborough County, Florida )

Benefits

Signature retrieval systems save money and

time. When large petitions with thousands or

hundreds of thousands of signatures for a statewide petition are required to be processed, these

systems can enable an agency to do this within

the legal deadlines required by the state.

Signature retrieval systems are one of the most

productive automated systems an election's administrator can install. Productivity improvements of 4009f are reported, in checking petition

signatures. Thurston County, Washington reports

that they were able to reduce staff from four

regularly assigned employees to a person working on the task three quarters of their time.

Manhour savings resulted in 1440 hours per

year.

What follows is a list of areas within your

agency where the installation of a signature retrieval system can benefit the management and

administration of the agency:

• Document or signature retrieval and processing speeds were reported which indicated improvements of two to four times over manual

processes.

• Signatures are more accessible to staff when

needed.

• Accuracy of updating the correct record when

changes occur is enhanced.

• Space for record storage in ledgers or filing

equipment is reduced. This frees up expensive

office space for other uses. If paper retention

is required, by law in your area, records can be

stored in warehouse type facilities.

• Speed of processing during election peaks is

improved.

• More ability to meet legal deadlines as the

workload increases. In San Diego County,

California, prior to system installation AV's

took 1.1 minutes each to process. After installation .35 minutes was required for each

document. Similarly, petitions went from 3.2

minutes down to 2.2 minutes.

• Transportation costs, packaging and processing of sending poll ledgers out to precincts can

be eliminated by producing a laser printed

signature on the precinct register. Monroe

County, New York, with 350,000 registered

voters, was relieved of pulling poll ledgers,

packing and sending them out in hundreds of

carrying cases to the polls. Delivery costs,

telephone line and operator costs and key

punching costs were eliminated. This resulted

in savings equalling $50,000 per year.

• Computerized systems with terminals are

easier to work with than heavy ledgers. Frequently with old paper files there are problems

with dust, paper fleas, poor lighting all contributing to decreased staff efficiency and

possible errors.

• Copies of computer files or optical disks can be

made and stored offsite, providing better

backup for the agencies records in case of fire

or other disaster.

Based on our on-site interviews and questionnaires all jurisdictions have shown significant

savings achieved by installing these systems.

Some have reported labor savings that have the

systems paying for themselves in one to three

major elections.

Costs

Costs can range from about $5,000 for software

alone to several million dollars for hardware,

software and conversion of documents for a very

large jurisdiction. Most vendors sell packages

including hardware and software. They offer

assistance with training, implementation and

file conversion from paper or microfilm to the

10
computer. Allow for a certain amount of your

time and that of key staff going into the selection,

contract negotiation and installation of this

equipment.

If you are wondering if your jurisdiction is

large enough to justify the expense of this type of

system, consider Amador County, California.

Located in the foothills of the Sierras they have

17,000 voters and are in the process of converting

to a signature retrieval system. They feel that

already the system is extremely helpful. They

have experienced what many others have regarding conversion problems and warn that you budget

adequately, for staff for this effort.

Plan for additional costs, for the conversion

effort, because it may be necessary to bring in

more workers and to work regular staff overtime.

You also may use more supplies at this time than

in normal production.

The following chart details some of the costs

experienced by some of the jurisdictions responding to the survey. Keep in mind that some

agencies implemented more extensive systems

than others, as a result costs varied widely. The

information is offered so that you may "ballpark"

your potential costs if you decide to install this

type of system in your agency.

Implementation Strategies

The State of New York, State Board of Elections has developed regulations that New York

counties must follow when acquiring a signature

retrieval system. This is the only state we know

of where this is currently being done.

Dade County, Florida elections officials suggest that you visit jurisdictions of the same size as

yours, having the same legal requirements, who

have their scanning equipment in place before

making a purchase. San Diego County, California suggests that you allocate one day for each

visit. Also, visit the site without the vendor.

We are not going to attempt to tell you how to

prepare and evaluate a Request for Proposal or

other instrument for a bid. The requirements for

this process vary widely from one jurisdiction to

another. We do suggest that you have a written

agreement, approved by your legal counsel.

When you begin your acquisition process you

should consider the following when preparing the

agreement or contract specifications.

• How often is whole document needed? (Usually not very often. It probably does not need to be

stored in the computer.)

COUNTY NAME

Maricopa Co, AZ

Pima County, AZ

Los Angeles Co, CA

San Diego Co, CA

Brevard Co, FL

Palm Beach Co., FL

Monroe Co, NY

Clackamas Co, OR

VOTER

TOTAL

1,100,000

384,000

3,300,000

1,200,000

193,000

414,000

350,000

150,000

HARDWARE/

SOFTWARE

$

$

$

$

$

$

$

$

1,100,000

236,000

2,300,000

225,000

112,000

65,000

400,000

58,000

COSTS

CONVERSION

$

$

$

$

$

$

$

$

100,000

150,000

800,000

50,000

34,313

40,000

75,000

6,500

$

$

$

$

$

$

$

$

TOTAL

1,200,000

386,000

3,100,000

275,000

146,313

105,000

475,000

64,500

PER

VOTER

$ 1.09

$ 1.01

$ .94

$ .23

$ .76

$ .26

$ 1.36

$ .43

11
• Are signatures required at polling places? (If

so, can you use a report on which the signature

has been printed by the system?)

• Do the courts accept documents or signatures

reproduced from digitized data? (You should check

this with your legal counsel.)

• Know your processing volumes so you can

predict what type of response times you will need

to accomplish your work.

C] When and how many of your documents

come in at specific times? (Most usually

come in at busy election times).

• How many different signature checking

functions are required to be done, simultaneously? (Petitions, Absent Voters)

O Will you need to digitize and retrieve signatures at the same time? (You may need to

enter a voter registration document, while

checking signatures for candidate filing.)

• Identify any hardware and software you may

currently have so compatibility can be determined.

• Decide if you need to have backup or extra

computer hardware. How seriously would you be

affected by an equipment breakdown? How long

will it take to get equipment repaired or replaced

should part of your system breakdown during a

peak election process?

• Include a comprehensive conversion plan with

time schedules. (You may need additional equipment, workers, a fall back or contingency plan

and expect problems.)

• Develop acceptance testing criteria for the

system. Include it in your specifications or agreement, before you buy, so the vendors will know

what you expect the system to be capable of

performing.

• Visit or talk with election administrators who

have signature retrieval systems in operation.

Their experience can be very helpful.

• Allow yourself enough time to install the system and to convert your data in an orderly manner. Consider installing the system at a slow

processing time.

• Require that training be provided to several of

your staff, specify numbers.

Once a decision to buy a system has been made.

Require a solid, written agreement for the installation of the system and conversion of the

data.

The vendor usually provides training in the

use of the system as part of the contract. Manuals

for the ongoing operation of the system also should

be required.

Facility modifications to install electrical, phone

lines, air conditioning and space need to be determined. They should be completed before the

arrival of the equipment. Allow space for staff,

equipment servicing and supply storage when

deciding needs for the equipment.

The contract should specify when the equipment hardware and software will be delivered.

Who will setup the equipment? Who will install

software you currently own? Who will work on

the conversion? How will the new system work

with any system you already have?

The criteria making up the final acceptance

and sign off for the new system should be part of

the contract. The vendor will know what to

expect ahead of time. Consider making partial

payments for the equipment throughout the installation process with final payment contingent

upon the system working to your satisfaction.

Decide what equipment and software service

level is needed. Your level of service may need to

change depending on when you are conducting an

election and when you are not. On-site service

requiring a technician to arrive on-site after a

short specified period after placing a call, is the

top level of service. Other service options may

require you to bring the equipment to the vendor's

location. Quickness of response plus on-site customer engineers probably will be the most expensive service agreement you can have. Put service

12
level requirements in your agreement. Ask for

what you need and negotiate with the vendor for

what best serves your agency.

Conclusions

Many jurisdictions are maintaining a duplicate copy of the voter registration document on

microfilm or microfiche. Some jurisdictions are

already using optical disk, for the duplicate copy

of the voter document.

We believe, the trend in the future will be to

store the voter document image on optical disk.

The advantages being, the image does not need

chemicals to develop. The image can be immediately available. Data could be keyed from the

document image, confirming the image is readable. It also may be possible to scan the image and

encode data for the voter data base.

Signature retrieval systems, as with all systems, have problems associated with implementation. Murphy's Law seems always to apply.

Based upon our findings the rewards the systems

can provide are well worth the effort.

13

Appendix 1

Election Signature

Retrieval System

Jurisdiction Contacts

15
ARIZONA

MARICOPA COUNTY - 1,100,000 Registered Voters

Maricopa County Department of Elections

Mr. Glenn Humbert

Assistant Director - Data Systems

111 South Third Avenue

Phoenix, AZ 85003-2223

602 506-1552

MOHAVE COUNTY - 55,000 Registered Voters

Mohave County

Mr. Claus Behrens

Registration Supervisor

P.O. Box 70

Kingman, AZ 86401

602 753-3470

PIMA COUNTY - 384,000 Registered Voters

Pima County Recorder

Mr. Jay Miller

Information System Coordinator

115 North Church Street

Tucson, AZ 85701-1199

602 740-8151

CALIFORNIA

AMADOR COUNTY - 17,000 Registered Voters

County of Amador County Clerk-Recorder

Mr. Sheldon D. Johnson

County Clerk-Recorder

108 Court Street

Jackson, CA 95642

209 223-6464

16
LOS ANGELES COUNTY - 3,300,000 Registered Voters

County of Los Angeles Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk

Mr. Micheal Petrucello

Assistant Registrar-Recorder, Technical Services

P.O. Box 30450

Los Angeles, CA 90030

213 725-5666

SAN DIEGO COUNTY - 1,200,000 Registered Voters

County of San Diego Registrar of Voters

Ms. Ingrid Gonzales

Assistant Registrar of Voters

5201-1 Ruffin Road

San Diego, CA 92123

619 694-3402

FLORIDA

BREVARD COUNTY - 193,000 Registered Voters

Brevard County, Supervisor of Elections

Ms. Shirley P. Baccus

Supervisor of Elections

P.O. Box 1119

Titusville, FL 32781-1119

407 264-5005

COLLIER COUNTY - 75,000 Registered Voters

Collier County, Supervisor of Elections

Ms. Mary W. Morgan

Supervisor of Elections

Collier Government Center

3301 Tamiami Trail East

Naples, FL 33962-4971

813 774-8450

17
DADE COUNTY - 600,000 Registered Voters

Dade County Elections Department

Mr. David C. Leahy

Supervisor of Elections

111 NW 1 Street, Suite 1910

Miami, FL 33128

305 375-3150

HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY - 294,000 Registered Voters

Hillsborough County, Supervisor of Elections

Mr. Chuck Smith

Elections Operations Manager

419 Pierce Street, Room 195

Tampa, FL 33602

813 272-5850

LEE COUNTY - 159,000 Registered Voters

Lee County, Supervisor of Elections

Mr. Bernie R. Feliciano

Deputy Registrar

P.O. Box 2545

Ft. Meyers, FL 33902

813 335-2594

PALM BEACH COUNTY - 415,000 Registered Voters

Palm Beach County, Supervisor of Elections

Ms. Jackie Winchester

Supervisor of Elections

301 North Olive Avenue, Room 105

West Palm Beach, FL 33401

407 355-2650

PASCO COUNTY - 149,000 Registered Voters

Pasco County, Supervisor of Elections

Mr. Kurt S. Browning

Supervisor of Elections

705 East Live Oak Avenue, Room 212

Dade City, FL 33525

904 521-4302

18
PINELLAS COUNTY - 435,000 Registered Voters

Pinellas County, Supervisor of Elections

Ms. Dorothy Walker Ruggles

Supervisor of Elections

315 Court Street, Room 117

Clearwater, FL 34616-5190

813 462-3551

SARASOTA COUNTY - 166,000 Registered Voters

Sarasota County, Supervisor of Elections

Mr. E. Michael Berrios

Network Administrator

P.O. Box 4194

100 South Washington Boulevard

Sarasota, FL 34230-4194

813 951-5300

GEORGIA

FULTON COUNTY - 308,000 Registered Voters

Fulton County, Department of Registration and Elections

Mr. John P. Sullivan

Chief, Registration Division

141 Pryor Street SW, Suite 4085

Atlanta, GA 30303-3450

404 730-7072

NEW YORK

ERIE COUNTY - 500,000 Registered Voters

Erie County Board of Elections

Mr. Dan Gregorio

Deputy Commissioner

134 West Eagle Street

Buffalo, NY 14202

716 858-7780

19
MONROE COUNTY - 350,000 Registered Voters

Monroe County Board of Elections

Ms. M. Betsy Relin / Mr. Ronald J. Starkweather

Commissioners of Elections

39 West Main Street, Room 106

Rochester, NY 14614

716 428-5884

NIAGARA COUNTY - 102,000 Registered Voters

Niagara County Board of Elections

Ms. Lucille L. Britt / Mr. Douglas O. Jayne

Commissioners of Elections

59 Park Avenue

Lockport, NY 14094

716 439-6137

OREGON

CLACKAMAS COUNTY - 150,000 Registered Voters

Clackamas County Elections Division

Mr. Ben Marberry

Elections Manager

835 Portland Avenue

Gladstone, OR 97027-2195

503 655-8510

WASHINGTON

THURSTON COUNTY - 80,000 Registered Voters

Thurston County

Ms. Sheryl Moss

Director of Elections

2000 Lakeridge Drive SW

Olympia, WA 98501

206 786-5408

20
Appendix 2

Election Signature

Retrieval System

Vendors

21
Arthur Anderson

1345 Avenue of the Americas

New York, NY 10100

212 708-4000

Business Records Corporation

Mr. Ed Charbonneau

1001 Eastshore Highway

Berkeley, CA 94710

510 527-5150

Datavision Corporation

Mr. Bob Brisco

72 Hosmer Place

Post Office Box 664

Marlboro, MA 01752

508 480-0404

DIMS

Mr. John Hice, President

2350 East Main Street,

Suite 202

Ventura, CA 90003

805 653-1990

Fidlar & Chambers

Mr. Larry Lawrence/Mr. Bob Diveley

501 Goodlette Road North

Bldg G, Suite 15

Naples, FL 33940

813 263-5055

Filenet Inc.

Mr. Brian Schlosser/Mr. Ron Baxter

6621 North Scottsdale Road

Scottsdale, AZ 85253

602 951-8814

22
Genesys Data Technologies, Inc.

Mr. Robert Clark 301 785-0661

11350 McCormick Road

Hunt Valley, MD 21030

800 767-4384

IBM

Mr. David L. Wilson

3109 Martin Luther King Boulevard

Tampa, FL 33607

813 872-2140

and

150 State Street

Rochester, NY 14614

716 726-8152

Identitech, Inc.

Mr. Bob Riley 407 462-2112

1333 Gateway Drive

Mail Stop 1022

Melbourne, FL 32901

Image Business Systems

Mr. David LaCarta, Ms. Diane DeCarlo, Mr. Jim Hendrickson

417 Fifth Avenue

New York, NY 10016

212 696-2500

National Time Sharing

Dr. Charles DeWald, 716 297-0553

Mr. Bruce Cowe, 716 692-2274

1342 Military Road

Niagara Falls, NY 14304

23
PI Technology Inc.

Mr. Arun Sinha

5775 East Los Angeles Avenue

Suite 103

Simi Valley, CA 93063

805 582-0775

Signaware Inc.

Mr. John St. Clair

300 South Duncan Avenue

Suite 275

Clearwater, FL 34615

813 461-4211

fax 813 449-9713

800 637-6564

SQN Peripherals, Inc.

Mr. Joe Uhland

65 Indel Avenue

Post Office Box 423

Rancocas, NJ 08073

609 261-5500

Systemhouse Inc.

Mr. Bill Devitt, Vice President and General Manager

Mr. Al Lavell, Director, Marketing and Sales

Cerritos Town Center

12750 Center Court Drive, 7th Floor

Cerritos, CA 90701

213 860-3635

Votec

Mr. John Medcalf, San Diego 619 674-5532

Ms. Darlene Van Dam, Los Angeles 818 348-3907

21625 Yucatan Avenue

Woodland Hills, CA 91364

800 827-0435

24
Appendix 3

Summary of Questionnaire

Responses — Jurisdictions Using

Signature Retrieval Systems

25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33


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Innovations in Election Administration

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Federal Election Commission

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Toll Free 800/424-9530

Direct 202/219-3670

FAX 202/219-3880

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