Californias new voter registration database, whose creation the
federal government once called a model for other states, may
prevent thousands of eligible voters from casting ballots in a June
6 statewide election, officials fear.
Since the database was implemented last December, the voter
registration process has been invalidating numerous registrations,
mostly as a result of minor data-entry problems.
For example, 14,629 out of 34,064 voter registration forms -- or
43 percent -- were "kicked out," or rejected, in Los Angeles County
between Jan. 1 and March 15. Such results have election officials
statewide fearing that the new registration system will bump
eligible voters from the voter rolls.
The problems could first affect a small number of local
elections starting this month, including a special congressional
election on Tuesday in San Diego County.
The registration database, run by Secretary of State Bruce
McPherson, was mandated by the federal Help America Vote Act
(HAVA). The law requires that each state establish a centralized
voter registration database.
In an e-mail response to questions, a spokeswoman for McPherson
wouldn't provide technical details of the system, nor would she
talk about the nature of the problems. She did note that 74 percent
of voter registrations are cleared on the first try. The rest, she
said, require manual validation by county elections workers.
Elaine Ginnold, registrar of voters for Alameda County, said the
rejection rate there hovers around 10 percent, a total that would
be expected with any new system. However, she also noted that the
new system could kick out eligible voters.
County election officials said the new registration system
requires that potential voters provide a driver's license number or
other identifying information to a county registrar. The data is
keyed into a local database and periodically uploaded to the new
centralized system, which matches it with information from the
California Department of Motor Vehicles and other agencies to
verify that it's authentic.
The rigorous system will reject applications whose data doesn't
exactly match the confirming documents. Even small discrepancies,
such as a missing middle initial, could cause an application to be
rejected.
"My main concern is there could be 20,000 to 30,000 new
registration cards delivered to Alameda County at the registration
deadline," Ginnold said. The deadline for the state election is May
22.
The registration information takes a week to process into the
Alameda database before it is sent to the state database for
matching, which can take up to five days, Ginnold said. "We would
get the kick-outs only a few days before the election -- which
won't allow enough time to manually validate them," she said.
The potential problems have provided fodder for McPherson's
critics, who claim that he selected rigid guidelines that could
unfairly penalize voters.
The voter database has "been a disaster for anyone who is trying
to register for the first time or reregister because they moved,
got married and need to change their name or change parties," said
California State Sen. Debra Bowen, who held a hearing this week on
the matter. A spokesman for Bowen said the rejection rate should be
between 1 percent and 2 percent.
The U.S. Department of Justice, which enforces HAVA, worked with
McPherson's office as the system was being crafted.
The secretary of state's office has set up processes to offer
guidance to counties and voters on fulfilling the new requirements,
McPherson's spokeswoman said. He has also proposed legislation to
"provide common-sense flexibility so that no eligible voter should
be denied the opportunity to vote because of a technicality," she
said.
Ginnold said that ultimately, a centralized database that has a
single entry for each voter can successfully prevent fraud.
Previously, election officials relied on local databases and
registration rules, and exact matches weren't required.
"The goal is excellent, and we shouldn't lose sight of that,"
Ginnold said. "The road is a little rocky now."
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