1. Voter Qualifications: TEXAS
Texas Secretary of State Elections Division
11/16/2018
Voter Qualifications: TEXAS
Presenter: Oscar Trejo
September 2015
Texas Secretary of State Elections Division
Texas Secretary of State Elections Division

2. Texas Secretary of State
Table of Contents
Registering to vote in Texas
Qualifications
Registering within a specific county
Registering at a Business Address
Live Check
Verifying Eligibility
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Texas Secretary of State

3. Eligibility to vote in Texas
Sec
Qualified voter
Resident of territory covered
Satisfy all other requirements for voting per election
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Texas Secretary of State

4. Eligibility to vote in Texas (cont’d)
Sec
18 years +
U.S. Citizen
No final judgment of totally or partially mentally incapacitated without the right to vote
Not a felon, or if yes-be completely done with all aspects of sentence (be off-paper)
Resident of Texas
Registered voter
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Texas Secretary of State

5. Definition of a Registered Voter
Texas Secretary of State Elections Division
11/16/2018
Definition of a Registered Voter
Section Definitions
(16) “Registered voter” means a person registered to vote in this state whose registration is effective*
Section – Effective date of registration (EDR)
*Effective date of registration (EDR):
30 days after the date the application is submitted to the registrar or on the date the applicant becomes 18 years of age, whichever is later.
(e) "If the 30th day before the date of an election is a Satruday, Sunday, or legal state or national holiday, an application is considered to be timely if it is submitted to the registrar on or before the next regular business day."
11/16/2018
Texas Secretary of State
Texas Secretary of State Elections Division

6. Registering in a specific county
Section (Eligibility for Registration)
18 years +
U.S. Citizen
No final judgment of totally nor partially mentally incapacitated without the right to vote
Not a felon, or if yes-be completely done with all aspects of sentence (be off-paper)
Resident of the county where they submit application
Must be at least 17 yrs. 10 mos. when applying – satisfy all above (except for age)
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Texas Secretary of State

7. Registering to Vote at an Address deemed to be Business by the County
Voter Registrar may not reject an application based on address being deemed business.
If application is complete – Register the Voter.
After registration – may initiate a Notice of Address Confirmation.
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Texas Secretary of State

8. Definition of “residence”
Sect Rules on residence
Residence means domicile; one’s home and fixed place of habitation to which one intends to return after any temporary absence.
(c) A person does not lose the person’s residence by leaving the person’s home to go to another place for temporary purposes only.
User can send Notice of Address Confirmation. User cannot send Notice of Examination based on residence.
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Texas Secretary of State

9. Texas Election Code Chapter 15
Sect : Confirmation notice.
(Notice of Address Confirmation)
(a) If the registrar has reason to believe that a voter’s current residence is different from that indicated on the registration records, the registrar shall deliver to the voter a written confirmation notice requesting confirmation of the voter’s current residence.
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Texas Secretary of State

10. Notice of Address Confirmation
Include the official Voter Registration Address Confirmation Response form with postage for each Notice to Confirm Voter Registration Address notice delivered to a voter. (Sec (b))
Make it deliverable by forwardable mail to the voter’s last known address.
Maintain a list of confirmation notices mailed to the voters.
List should include voter’s name and date the notice is mailed.
VR shall maintain and retain that list for your records.
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Texas Secretary of State

11. Response to Notice of Address Confirmation Sect. 15.053
Texas Secretary of State Elections Division
11/16/2018
Response to Notice of Address Confirmation Sect
Voter shall respond no later than 30 days after the date the confirmation notice was mailed
Notice shall include a written, signed response to the notice confirming the voter’s current residence
Voter Registrar retains the response form and files it along with voter’s registration record
If Response Form comes back and the voter is now registered in another county.
Forward to corresponding county within (2) business days
Able to reject the application
In some situations, counties will be required to send Notice of Rejection. More info on Slide 12.
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Texas Secretary of State
Texas Secretary of State Elections Division

12. Texas Secretary of State
Notice of Rejection
Contiguous (neighboring counties)
Not required to be sent
Ex: Archer and Wichita
Non- Contiguous (distant counties)
Required to be sent
Ex: El Paso and Bexar
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Texas Secretary of State

13. Failure to Confirm Address
If after 30 days the voter has not responded:
Voter will be remain on Suspense until address is confirmed
Sect subsection(b)
Statement of residence form (SOR) will be required at the time of voting in person
Sect
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Texas Secretary of State

14. Registering at a Business Address
Texas Secretary of State Elections Division
11/16/2018
Registering at a Business Address
Designate a specific address within an existing street range as a business address.
The system will proceed with the registration and produce a Voter Registration Certificate.
Notice of Address Confirmation is automatically generated.
Notice is sent to the county’s Batch on the Dashboard for printing.
The system will place the voter on suspense when the Notice is printed to be mailed.
In the redeveloped system, a county will be able to designate a specific address within an existing street range as a business address. When a person is registered at the address, the system will proceed with the registration and produce a Voter Registration Certificate. The system will then also initiate a Notice of Address Confirmation and provide that in the Batch Printing on the county’s Dashboard. The system will place the voter on suspense when the Notice is printed to be mailed.
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Texas Secretary of State
Texas Secretary of State Elections Division

15. Live Check: Verifying Eligibility
For those records that fail the DPS live check verification, a TDL Mismatch file will be provided to the county. Each file includes both the voter’s record and the corresponding information from the DPS, driver/ID file. This information can then be used to identify which field submitted on the voter application did not match to the DPS data resulting in a verification failure.  The three fields used to match against DPS to confirm verification are:  
TDL/ID Number
Last/Former Name
Date of Birth
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Texas Secretary of State

16. Live Check: Verifying Eligibility
SSN VERIFICATION
If the individual provides a Social Security Number, then the information is verified by comparing Name, Date of Birth and SSN to the information maintained by the Social Security Administration. This information is sent out through a web service and as such does not produce a rejection record for the voter registrar to compare results against.
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Texas Secretary of State

17. Live Check: Verifying Eligibility
Texas Secretary of State Elections Division
11/16/2018
Live Check: Verifying Eligibility
DECEASED CHECK
If the individual strong matches against deceased information provided by entities reporting deceased information under , then the county will receive notification of the failure.
Online counties get a Notice of Challenge posted to their Dashboard.
Offline counties receive the information as an Event Type 7
Strong Deceased Criteria  - Last Name, SSN (9 digit) and DOB  
Bypass Check tells the system to insert the voter without making the voter go through LiveCheck.  As a reminder LiveCheck is a multi-step process that virtually every voter must go through when a new application is submitted.  Keep in mind that the purpose of LiveCheck is merely to confirm that the information provided matches a person who is in fact living.  Whether the person is eligible to vote based on other eligibility requirements is not addressed through this process.  The various checks that a new application goes through in a county are:
Duplicate check – the voter record is compared to the statewide database to determine whether or not a strong match duplicate can be identified.  If a strong match duplicate is found, the voter record in the old county (with the older EDR date) is cancelled and the voter is “moved” to be an active voter in the new county of registration.  If the application strong matches a registered voter in the same county, the record will be updated.
Deceased check – the voter record is compared to the deceased table (comprised of records from the Bureau of Vital Statistics and the Social Security Administration Death Master File) in an effort to confirm the status of the voter.  If the record strong matches a record listed in the deceased table, then the application is rejected.
Identification check – The voter from DPS bypasses the ID verification check since the record originated from DPS, but it is checked against deceased live check and undergoes the duplicate verification process. If the voter provides a DL number, then the voter record is compared to the Driver License Table.  This process compares the TDL, Last Name or Former Name, and Date of Birth of the voter application to the TDL table.  If the last four of the SSN are provided, then the record goes through a portal to the Social Security Administration to attempt to verify the person based on Last Name or Former Name, Date of Birth and the Last four of the SSN.
A voter providing neither the SSN nor the TDL will fail live check and be required to show identification when voting.
11/16/2018
Texas Secretary of State
Texas Secretary of State Elections Division

18. Live Check: Verifying Eligibility
Texas Secretary of State Elections Division
11/16/2018
Live Check: Verifying Eligibility
If there is a data entry error, no Notice of Incomplete need be sent. Simply. Correct the error and submit again.
If there is not a data entry error, send a Notice of Incomplete marking the exact reason for non-verification.
Response received within 10 days with new information – enter said information and re-submit with original reg. date.
Response after 10 days with new information – must change the registration date and submit as new application.
Response within 10 days, but with no new information – process the application as an ID required voter.
If there is no response after 10 days, you may reject the application on the grounds of incompleteness. Send a Notice of Rejection in these cases.
E-Net is user driven NOT system driven. The user will determine that the applicant is your person.
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Texas Secretary of State
Texas Secretary of State Elections Division

19. Notice of Incomplete w/o New Information
In accordance with HAVA, a voter who has not been issued a driver’s license nor submitted proof of identification when they present themselves for voting (or with ballot by mail) should be flagged on the official voter registration list with the annotation of “ID.” Poll workers should request a proper form of identification from these voters when they present themselves to vote.
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Texas Secretary of State

20. Texas Election Code Chapter 16
Sect (reasons for examining)
Sect (ways to cancel voters)
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Texas Secretary of State

21. Reasons for Examining a Voter Sect. 16.033
Voter Registrar may investigate whether a registered voter is currently eligible for registration in the county, but does not authorize an investigation of eligibility based solely on residence.
Deceased
Non U.S. Citizen
Possible Felon
Age
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Texas Secretary of State

22. Reasons for Examining a Voter Sect. 16.033
Registrar shall retain a copy of the notice mailed to a voter with the voter’s application. If the voter replies;
Writing; retain the reply on file with the application
Verbal; prepare a memo with the substance and date of reply and file with the application
If a voter is investigated for Citizenship, then the voter must provide proof of citizenship in order to remain registered.
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Texas Secretary of State

23. Cancellation Upon Notice of Ineligibility Sect. 16.031
The registrar shall cancel a voter’s registration upon receipt of:
Voter’s response that their residence is Out of County
Abstract of voter’s death certificate or abstract of application indicating the voter is deceased
Abstract from the court indicating total mental incapacity, partial mental incapacity w/o the right to vote, or convicted of a felony
Notification the voter voted a limited ballot in another county
Notification by Secretary of State that the voter is deceased or has registered in another county
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Texas Secretary of State

24. Cancellation Upon Notice of Ineligibility (cont’d)
Receives a written notice from a relative within the second degree attesting that the voter is deceased
Parent/Child
Grandparent/Grandchild
Sibling
Spouse
The registrar has personal knowledge that the voter is deceased
Obituaries
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Texas Secretary of State

25. Texas Secretary of State
Catch Phrases
Address results in Suspense
Examination may result in Cancellation
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Texas Secretary of State

26. Texas Secretary of State
The End
Thank You!!!
Muchas Gracias!!!
11/16/2018
Texas Secretary of State