Voter file maintenance is the process county elections officials use to ensure their voter registration lists are accurate. The California Elections Code mandates specific file maintenance procedures for keeping voter records up-to-date. Not only does the Registrar of Voters perform the state-mandated procedures, but the Registrar of Voters also performs a number of optional daily, weekly, and monthly internal audits to identify potential duplicate registration records and invalid registration information.
State-Mandated File Maintenance Activities:
The Registrar of Voters performs a number of state-mandated file maintenance activities that involve updating registration records based on correspondence received from other government agencies. The County’s list of registered voters is cross-checked using the following agency data from:
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The United States Postal Service’s National Change of Address information (NCOA), which is received and processed monthly
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The Department of Motor Vehicles Change of Address information (DMVCOA), which is received and processed weekly
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San Bernardino County Registrar of Voters Official Mail Ballots, Voter Information Guides, and other correspondence returned by the United States Postal Service as “undeliverable”
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The San Bernardino County Department of Public Health and the Secretary of State regarding deceased persons
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Other California counties where voters have re-registered in their county
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The Secretary of State during statewide voter registration duplicate checks, which are received and processed approximately twice per week
Optional File Maintenance Activities:
In addition to the above state-mandated file maintenance activities, the Registrar of Voters performs various internal audits.
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Duplicate Records Audit - This audit identifies potential duplicate records. Using varying criteria, the Registrar of Voters runs reports identifying potential duplicate registration records. When matches are confirmed, the duplicate voter records are merged together.
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Address Standardization Audit - This audit identifies mailing addresses that do not adhere to the United States Postal Service addressing standards. Voters benefit from this audit because election mail with USPS standardized addresses will likely arrive sooner.
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Invalid Information Audit – This audit searches for invalid registration information, including driver’s license numbers, zip codes, or phone numbers. This information is compared to the voter registration card images to determine if there is a typographical error. The voter records are either corrected or invalid information is removed.