Oregon Secretary of State Elections Division

HAVA Complaint Procedure

Help America Vote Act (HAVA) Title III Requirements

Note: This is a summary of the Act's Title III Requirements. For a complete copy of the Act, click here.

Sec. 301

Voting Systems Standards: (by January 1, 2006)

Voter education programs for notification of overvotes, instructions on how to correct a ballot before it is cast and about replacement ballots. Preserves confidentiality of ballot.
Permanent paper record for voting system that can be manually audited and available as the official record for recounts.
Accessibility for individuals with disabilities - must provide those individuals with the same access to voting as provided to other voters (including privacy and independence). There must be at least one DRE system at each polling place.
Provide alternative language accessibility as required by law.
Comply with federal error rate standards of the voting system in counting ballots.
Adoption of uniform and nondiscriminatory standards defining what constitutes a vote and what will be counted as a vote for each voting system used in the state.

Sec. 302

Provisional Voting and Voting Information Requirements: (by January 1, 2004)

Person whose name does not appear on list of eligible voters within the county shall be allowed to cast a provisional ballot as required by law. The provisional ballot must be promptly verified and counted if the election official can verify the voters' eligibility. The voter must be able to find out (via free access system*) if the ballot was counted and if not, why not. The voter must be told in writing about this access system when ballot cast.

*Free access system: State or local election officials must provide a free access system such as a toll-free number or an Internet website for this purpose.
Voter information must be posted at each polling place on election day. Voter information includes sample ballots, the election date and polling place hours, voting instructions including provisional ballots and instructions for mail-in registrants and first-time voters. Posted voter information must also include general information on federal and state voting rights and laws prohibiting fraud and misrepresentation, as well as instructions on how to contact appropriate officials for such concerns.
If a court order extends polling hours, any ballot cast in a federal election during the extension is to be provisional and held separately from other provisional ballots.

Sec. 303

Computerized Statewide Voter Registration Requirements: (by January 1, 2006)

HAVA requires implementation and maintenance of a single, uniform, official, centralized and interactive Statewide computerized voter registration list accessible to all election officials in the State. In Oregon, this will be referred to as OCVR, Oregon Centralized Voter Registration. The system shall contain registration information on every registered voter in the state, with a unique identifier assigned to each legally registered voter.
System must use a unique identification number assigned to each legally registered voter. Requires that applicants provide a valid driver's license number, or last four digits of Social Security number. If neither, then state assigns a unique identifier.
List maintenance on the computerized list must be performed on a regular basis, including elimination of duplicate names (if separate individuals). A person may be removed from the list only under applicable provisions of NVRA (National Voter Registration Act of 1993). There must be safeguards to ensure that eligible voters are not removed in error.
All voter registration information must be expeditiously entered electronically by local election officials, with the state providing support as needed to ensure compliance.
List must be coordinated with other State databases - there must be a sharing of information between voter registration and motor vehicle authority databases. A verification of accuracy of information provided by the state driver's license agency is required, unless the full social security number for voter registration is used.
The computerized list must include technological security measures to prevent unauthorized access and to keep information confidential, as appropriate.

Requirements for Voters Who Register by Mail: (by January 1, 2003)

Identification requirements for new to county registrants who register by mail via USPS. Identification is submitted with first federal ballot unless previously provided. Sufficient identification is a copy of a current, valid photo I.D., (such as a driver's license) or a copy of a paycheck stub, utility bill, bank statement or other government document showing the person's name and address.
Identification is not required for updates within the same county, or new voter registrations delivered in person or by means other than mail.

Sec. 304

Minimum requirements. These are the minimum requirements of HAVA. States are not prohibited from providing more detailed procedures and more comprehensive requirements, as allowed by law.