Agenda - 10-21-2008 - 3a - Laserfiche WebLink

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3 disenfranchised. The person's name is put into our computer database, but flagged that identification or other information is needed. If time permits, counties contact the applicant to obtain the missing information before the election. If the applicant appears to vote in an election before their identification has been verified, they may produce any of a variety of types of identification and vote. Alternatively, they can vote a provisional ballot and it will be counted if the missing information is provided by the day before the canvass of the election. These news articles also imply that North Carolina's list maintenance procedures have impermissibly removed voters. North Carolina strictly follows the requirements of state and federal law in conducting list maintenance to remove from the voter rolls at regular intervals those persons who have died, been convicted of a felony and have not had their citizenship rights restored, or who have moved out of the voting jurisdiction, i.e., the county in North Carolina. To assure that a voter is not removed through administrative errors, all names are kept in the voter registration database. A voter whose name has been removed may be allowed to vote a regular ballot if he or she has simply failed to report a move within a county, or to provide other missing information that will be researched by the county and to vote a provisional ballot that will be counted if their qualifications are verified. North Carolina will add approximately 850,000 new voters to its rolls by November 1, a record growth in voter registration. It is not surprising that the Social Security Administration has processed nearly 400,000 requests for verification since October 1, 2007. The Social Security Administration plans to take down its computer system during the Columbus Day federal holiday to do routine maintenance. This office protested taking down the system for two days when our deadline for voter registration by mail is October 10. In anticipation of this shutdown, Sherre Toler, the Director of Elections in Harnett County, sorted voter registration applications awaiting processing into several groups. In light of today's articles, you might fmd these numbers interesting - 1001 registrations awaiting processing 307 contain last four digits of their SSN 439 contain driver's license number only 228 contain both SSN and driver's license number 27 contain no identifying number Harnett County, like many in North Carolina, has large numbers of college students, military families and older citizens. These are precisely the groups that may not have a North Carolina driver's license but do have a Social Security Number. Thus, they have a high number of applicants who provide only that information. (We recognize that some applicants will choose to provide only their Social Security Number when they do have a valid driver's license; this does not render their application invalid.) Today's articles have undermined the public's trust in North Carolina's election administration. We want to provide any and all information that will restore that confidence. Attached please find the most pertinent North Carolina statutes to this issue- General Statutes 163-82.4, 82.14, and 166.12 and a summary of our list maintenance processes. LOCATION: 506 NORTH HARRINGTON STREET • RALEIGH, NORTH CAROLINA, 27603