Jennifer Brunner
Ohio Secretary of State
Statewide Voter Registration Database
(SWVRD) System Manual
January 2008
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page #
I. Glossary of Terms
Voter File Layout & Field Names
II. Introduction
III. Statewide Voter Registration Database
1. Security of Voter Information
2. Passwords, Login/Logout, Open Connections
3. Controlled Access Area
4. Synchronization
5. Frequency of Updates with the Secretary of State
6. Data Cleanup
7. Assigning Precinct Codes
IV. Records
8. Record Maintenance
9. Record Retention
V. Administrative Procedures
10.
Removing Voters from Lists
11.
Data Format Rules
12.
Political Regions
12.1. Defining County Regions
12.2. Statewide Political Regions
13.
Legal Lists
13.1. Legal List Changes
14.
Edit Checks
14.1. Invalid Name Sent to SOS
14.2. Valid Name Sent to SOS
15.
Response Time Requirements
15.1. Resolving Duplicates
15.2 XML Error Correction
15.3. Packet Resend Times (For Technical/Vendor Staff)
15.4. BMV Not Confirmed (this process is currently turned off)
15.5. BOE VRS Registration Location Statistics
15.6. Voting History Upload
15.7. General Responsiveness
16.
Audit Checks
16.1. Frequency of Checking
16.2. Resolving Audit Issues
16.3. Manual Audits
17.
BMV Not Confirmed Results in Second Voter ID
18.
Initialization
Step 1 – Manual Connectivity Check with SOS
Step 2 – Provide SOS with Voter Count
Step 3 – Exchange of Connectivity Information with the SOS
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Step 4 – Create Local Political Districts
Step 5 – Send Voters
Step 6 – Confirm SOS Sync - Respond to SOS Audit Requests
Step 7 – Adding Missing Voters during Initialization
Step 8 – Decision to Move Board VRS to ACTIVE status
Step 9 – Normal operations begin
19.
Election Request/Voting History
20.
Location Statistics
Step 1 – SOS Requests Location Statistics
Step 2 – Board VRS Provides Location Statistics
21.
Communication Issues
21.1. Heart-beat Hold
21.2. Unresponsiveness Metric
21.3. County Hold
22.
Planned Downtime-Wait
22.1. BOE VRS Maintenance
22.2. SOS Maintenance
22.3. Wait Policy
23. Communication Changes
23.1. BOE Password, FTP Directory, or Contact Email Changes
23.2. BOE IP Address Change
23.3. SOS FTP Password or Directory Change
23.4. SOS IP Address Change
24.
VRS Software Changes/Re-compliance
24.1. VRS Software Changes – Re-compliance
25.
Change Notification
25.1. Communicating Changes to the SOS Database
25.2. New Voters
25.3. In-process Flag
25.4. Changes to Voters
26.
Duplicate Resolution
26.1. Exact Match
26.2. Potential Match
26.3. Not a Duplicate
26.4. Duplicating with Removed, Ineligible or Deceased Voters
26.5. Multiple Duplicate Scenario
VI. APPENDIX A – Overview of Duplicate Handling Procedures
VII. APPENDIX B – Third-Party Access Control Policy
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I. Glossary of Terms
SOS: Ohio secretary of state.
BOE: Ohio county board of elections.
SWVRD: Ohio SOS Statewide Voter Registration Database.
CVRS: Central Statewide Voter Registration System, SOS based system.
VRS: Voter Registration System, BOE (county) based system
XML: Extensible Markup Language – A common computer language that permits the
communication by and between as well as the electronic transfer of data between the BOE VRS
and the SOS SWVRD
Packet: An information technology term used to identify the type of electronic transaction
being applied to a voter registration record via the BOE VRS and the SOS SWVRD. An
XML packet (transaction) may be passed from the BOE VRS to the SOS SWVRD or from the
SOS SWVRD to the BOE VRS. There are multiple “XML packet” types and with few
exceptions the prefix indicates the origin of the packet (e.g. “boe_vr_updt” is an XML packet
from the BOE to the SOS attempting to update a voter record stored on the SWVRD).
TCP: Transmission Control Protocol – Software that enables two host computer systems to
establish an electronic connection for the purpose of exchanging streams of data. TCP
guarantees delivery of data and guarantees that XML packets will be delivered in the same
order in which they were sent.
ACK: An XML packet used by TCP to acknowledge receipt of another XML packet. (e.g.
during normal operations, a BOE_INIT is acknowledged with an SOS_ACK).
NACK: An XML packet used by TCP to indicate a Negative Acknowledgement or Rejection
of another XML packet.
BMV: Bureau of Motor Vehicles.
FTP: File Transfer Protocol – A standard process that enables the electronic transfer of files
between computer systems that is supported by numerous hardware and software platforms.
FXS: A system that is sending and receiving data from the county.
HAVA: Help America Vote Act of 2002.
Heartbeat: An XML packet used to test the accessibility of a BOE registration system from
the SOS SWVRD. The SOS SWVRD sends a heartbeat packet to the BOE VRS every 15
minutes and upon BOE receipt, the BOE VRS sends a response heartbeat marking the BOE
VRS as being accessible. However, after the SOS resends the transaction five times with no
BOE response, the BOE VRS will be placed in a “hold” status. The “hold” will generate and
send an e-mail error message informing the BOE they are not responding.
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Legal List: A list of legal code values used to identify such things as political district types,
election types, registration location, party affiliation, registration type, address secondary
indicator, street description, and street direction. (A complete list of all legal codes to be used
in the voter registration system is available from the SOS.)
Unique Identifier: A SOS SWVRD generated unique identification number that is assigned to
each voter registration record stored in the SOS SWVRD. Once generated, this unique number
will be sent via an XML packet and will be included in any XML acknowledgement packets.
Resolution Process: Process by which the SOS will identify data integrity issues and
procedural issues associated with the SWVRD and will then work with all VRS vendors and
their corresponding BOEs to resolve and prevent these issues from reoccurring.
Data Integrity Issues: Errors that are specific to the data stored in the SWVRD (e.g. potential
duplicate records, missing voters and potentially inaccurate voter records).
Procedural Issues: System functions (procedures) that are performed out of sequence, are not
performed at all, performed unnecessarily, or performed too frequently.
Field: Space allocated within a database or spreadsheet that contains specific data.
Field Names: Names assigned to each field within the SOS SWVRD and the BOE databases
(e.g. First Name, Last Name, and Data of Birth).
Field Definitions: Pre-defined controls and characteristics that determine what type of data
each field may contain (e.g. numeric, alphabetic or alphanumeric) and how many characters
each field may contain.
Field Descriptions: Pre-defined controls and characteristics that determine what data are
“valid” for each field (e.g. “Party Affiliation” has a one character field and valid entries are
“D,” “R,” “L,” “E,” and “N”) and whether the data are required, optional or restricted.
Record: A collection of related fields.
Voter Record: A collection of related fields containing information on a specific voter.
File Layout or Record Layout: Description of the voter registration data that includes all field
names, data attributes and data characteristics associated with each voter record.
Report: A system generated collection of fields formatted and printed or displayed online.
Report Layout: A sequential arrangement of data fields and other text used to emphasize
specific information.
Missing Voters: The term used when the SOS SWVRD has a voter record that indicates the
voter resides in a specific county but that county’s BOE database has no matching voter record
stored in it.
Duplicate Voter Record: The term used when the SOS SWVRD has two or more voter
records in it that have been systematically identified as potentially being the same voter record.
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Double Precincts: The term used when the SOS SWVRD has more precincts listed for a
particular county than that county’s BOE database has listed in it.
Wrong/Unassigned Districts: The term used when the SOS SWVRD has identified a voter
record that has no assignment or an incorrect assignment for one or more of the six required
political subdivision districts (e.g. congressional districts, districts of the State Senate, and
House of Representatives are three of six required districts).
Error Message: A message that is systematically e-mailed from the SOS SWVRD to a BOE
when a data error is detected by the SOS SWVRD system.
Dupe Messages: Common type of error message systematically e-mailed from the SWVRD to
a BOE when two or more voter records are detected as potential “duplicate records.”
Audit Request: An electronic process conducted automatically at regularly scheduled intervals
by the SOS SWVRD in which the SOS SWVRD links with a BOE’s database to access voter
records in a precinct-by-precinct manner to compare the data stored on the SOS SWVRD with
the data stored on the county’s BOE database.
State ID Messages: A message that is systematically e-mailed from the SOS SWVRD to a
BOE, which includes a State ID number assigned by the SOS SWVRD to a voter, when the
SOS SWVRD receives a new voter record from the BOE.
Election History: An electronic process conducted after each election in which a particular
BOE updates its county database to indicate which voters have cast a ballot in that election and
then subsequently electronically transfers/transmits the records to the SOS SWVRD.
Voter Query System: An SOS “real-time” application program that enables BOEs to perform
searches on voter record information stored in the SOS SWVRD.
Voter Query: An automated process by which a BOE performs a search on a voter record
stored on the SOS SWVRD in an effort to assist with provisional balloting, viewing voter
history, or other voter record information.
Central Voter Registration System Manual: An SOS instructional guide that defines and
explains the programmatic processes that may be used by BOEs to ensure proper use of the
SOS voter registration system.
SWVRD Error Message Manual: An SOS instructional guide that lists error messages and
their corresponding corrective actions that may be used by BOE staff to reference when
receiving an e-mailed “error message” generated by the SOS SWVRD.
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Voter File Layout & Field Names
SOS Voter ID: A unique 12 character ID with the first four characters always being “OH00,”
which is assigned to each voter registration record.
County Number: All counties are assigned a unique two character numeric value. Valid
county values are 01 – 88 (each individual county) “%” (all counties), “00” (SOS), “90”
(BMV) and “SS” (unknown).
County ID: A unique 50-character field generated by a BOE voter registration system, which
is assigned to each voter registration record.
Last Name: 50-character field representing the voter’s last name.
First Name: 50-character field representing the voter’s first name.
Middle Name: 50-character field representing the voter’s middle name.
Suffix: 10-character field representing a suffix to the voter’s name (e.g. Jr., Sr., and III).
Date of Birth: 10-character field representing the voter’s date of birth (MM/DD/YYYY).
Registration Date: 10-character field representing voter’s registration date (MM/DD/YYYY).
Party Affiliation: One-character field representing the voter’s party affiliation. Valid values
are: “D” (Democrat), “E” (Reform), “L” (Libertarian), “N” (Natural Law), and “R”
(Republican). If the field is left empty, the voter is considered independent.
Residential Address 1: 100-character field representing the voter’s street address. Post office
box numbers are invalid.
Residential Address 2: 100-character field representing the voter’s street address. Post office
box numbers are invalid.
Residential City: 50-character field representing the voter’s city of residence.
Residential State: 20-character field representing the voter’s state of residence.
Residential ZIP: 5-character field representing the voter’s ZIP code.
Residential ZIP Plus 4: Four-character field representing the voter’s ZIP + 4 code (e.g.
12345-6789).
Residential Country: 50-character field representing the voter’s foreign country of residence.
Residential Postal Code: 10-character field representing the voter’s foreign country.
Mailing Address 1: 100-character field representing the voter’s mailing addresses.
Mailing Address 2: 100-character field representing the voter’s mailing addresses.
Mailing City: 50-character field representing the voter’s mailing address city.
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Mailing State: 20-character field representing the voter’s mailing address state.
Mailing ZIP: Five-character field representing the voter’s mailing address ZIP code.
Mailing ZIP Plus 4: Four-character field representing the voter’s mailing address ZIP + 4
code (e.g. 12345-6789).
Mailing Country: 50-character field representing the voter’s foreign country mailing address.
Mailing Postal Code: 10-character field representing the voter’s foreign country mailing
address postal code.
Career Center: 20-character field representing the voter’s educational career center. There
are 40 defined career centers in Ohio. Valid codes are CC, followed by the career center name
or the center’s abbreviation.
City: 20-character field representing the voter’s city; this is currently an unused field.
City School District: 20-character field representing the voter’s city school district. Valid
codes are “CSD” followed by a five-digit code.
County Court District: 20-character field, this field is currently NOT available for use.
Congressional District: 20-character field representing the voter’s U.S. congressional district.
Valid codes are “CD”, followed by a three-digit congressional district (001-018 are currently
valid).
Court of Appeals: 20-character field representing the voter’s Ohio Court of Appeals district.
Valid codes are “CA” followed by a three-digit district number, (001-012 are currently valid).
Education Service Center: 20-character field; currently unavailable for use.
Exempt School District: 20-character field representing the voter’s exempted village school
district. Valid codes are “EVSD” followed by a six-digit code.
Local School District: 20-character field representing the voter’s local school district. Valid
codes are “LSD” followed by a six-digit code.
Municipal Court District: 20-character field representing the voter’s Municipal Court
district. Valid codes are “MC” followed by description of the municipality or county (e.g. MCFRNKLIN-CO).
Precinct Code: 20-character field representing the voting jurisdiction in which the voter
resides. Valid precinct codes start with the two-digit county code followed by three or four
letters (e.g. 01-ABC).
State Board of Education: 20-character field representing the voter’s State Board of
Education district. Valid codes are “SBE” followed by a three-digit district number (001-011
are currently valid).
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State Representative District: 20-character field representing the voter’s Ohio House of
Representatives district. Valid codes are “SR” followed by the three-digit House of
Representatives district (001-099 are currently valid).
State Senate District: 20-character field representing the voter’s Ohio Senate district. Valid
codes are “SS” followed by a three-digit Senate district, (001-033 are currently valid).
Township: 20-character field representing the voter’s township.
Village: 20-character field representing the voter’s village, currently unavailable for use.
Ward: 20-character field representing the voter’s ward, currently unavailable for use.
II. Introduction
The Help America Vote Act (HAVA) of 2002 was signed into federal law on October 29, 2002.
The goal of the legislation was to improve administration of elections nationwide, therefore,
states were required to implement and maintain new federal mandates designed to meet this
objective.
A significant initiative under HAVA is the requirement that each state, acting through its chief
election official (in Ohio the secretary of state), shall implement a Computerized Statewide
Voter Registration List (database). This single, uniform, official, centralized, interactive list is
defined, maintained, and administered at the state level. This list contains the name and
registration information of and assigns a unique identifier to every legally registered voter in
the state. This computerized list shall serve as the official voter registration list for the conduct
of all elections for federal office in the state.
HAVA further states that all voter registration information obtained by any local election
official in the state shall be electronically entered into the computerized list on an expedited
basis at the time the information is provided to the local official. The appropriate state or local
official shall provide adequate technological security measures to prevent the unauthorized
access to the computerized list established under this section of HAVA.
Thus the purpose of this Business Procedures Manual is to document the HAVA Statewide
Voter Registration Database System operating procedures for Ohio county boards of elections
(BOE). The document will also serve as a “desk-ready” reference for processes and questions
related to the SOS SWVRD. Although this manual addresses the SWVRD HAVA
requirements, the state of Ohio election laws will be noted where appropriate.
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III. Statewide Voter Registration Database
1.
Security of Voter Information
Every effort must be employed by all parties to prevent unauthorized access to the SOS
SWVRD. For additional information regarding system access, please refer to the “Third-Party
Access Control Policy” in Appendix B.
2.
Passwords, Login/Logout, Open Connections
Specific policies and procedures that will help to ensure the security and integrity of the
SWVRD are addressed separately in the Annex on Security. Security measures currently
include:
 Password policies;
 Login and logout procedures; and
 Automatic connection timeout.
3.
Controlled Access Area
Specific policies and procedures regarding the physical access of the servers that house the
SWVRD are addressed separately in the Annex on Security.
4.
Synchronization
The SOS SWVRD and BOE VRS databases must be kept synchronized. In most cases the
synchronization of the databases will be handled systematically and will be transparent to SOS
and BOE staff members. However, every effort must be made by the BOEs to keep the SOS
SWVRD synchronized with the BOE’s VRS databases by performing timely voter record
maintenance and resolving potential duplicate voter records. This is especially critical prior to
the BOE’s printing of poll books for an election.
5.
Frequency of Updates with the Secretary of State
The majority of voter registration record updates within a BOE VRS database are electronically
communicated to the SOS SWVRD via XML packets. Such updates are systematic and
transparent. The BOE staff will not be required to learn and understand XML.
6.
Data Cleanup
The SOS SWVRD will electronically notify a specific BOE VRS via XML packet and BOE
staff via email when data integrity issues are discovered, or when a possible problem may exist,
such as potential duplicate voter registration records.
Data integrity issues and other reported problems must be investigated using SOS or BOE
defined business processes. Upon determination of an actual error, the BOE must initiate
corrective action within two business days of such discovery.
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7.
Assigning Precinct Codes
Each BOE establishes precinct names for which the SOS assigns the corresponding precinct
code. When a BOE proposes changes (additions, modifications or deletions) to their precincts,
the SOS must be notified prior to the BOE making the actual update(s). Notifications of BOE
precinct changes must be submitted in writing, fax, or email swvrd@sos.state.oh.us.
Precincts may not contain a number of electors in excess of 1,400. Each BOE determines the
reasonable number of electors per precinct after taking into consideration the type and amount
of voting equipment, prior voter turnout, size and location of polling place, parking, availability
of poll workers, and handicap and other polling place accessibility issues.
BOEs may apply for an SOS waiver regarding the number of electors per precinct in instances
where the U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census’s geographical units cause a
precinct to exceed 1,400 electors. The BOEs shall identify the affected precincts and census
units, explain the reason for the waiver request, and include a map illustrating where the census
units will be split as a result of the requested waiver. If approved, the SOS will notify the BOE
in writing after which the BOE may adjust the precinct boundaries as granted by the SOS
wavier.
BOEs will determine all precinct boundaries using the Bureau of the Census’s geographical
units in reporting the decennial census of Ohio.
BOEs may apply for an SOS waiver when it is not feasible to comply with precinct
requirements due to unusual physical boundaries or residential development practices that
would cause hardship for electors. BOEs shall identify the effected precincts and census units,
explain the reason for the waiver request, and include a map illustrating where the census units
will be split due to the requested waiver. If approved, the SOS will notify the BOE in writing
after which the BOE may adjust the precinct boundaries as granted by the SOS waiver.
Please note: No change in the number of precincts or in the precinct boundaries will be
permitted during the 25 days immediately preceding a primary or general election; or between
the first day of January and the day on which the members of the BOE central committees are
elected.
IV. Records
8.
Record Maintenance
BOEs are required to maintain a current accurate voter registration record per elector in their
county. It is also the responsibility of the BOE to ensure that each voter registration record and
corresponding activity is systematically communicated to the SOS SWVRD.
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9.
Record Retention
New voter registrations forms received by mail must also include a proof of identity. Persons
who register by mail must provide a copy of a HAVA-specified identification document, unless
the person has provided the information requested in Box 10 on the registration form. The
submitted copy of the ID becomes part of the voter’s registration record and must be retained
by the BOE. However, the ID may be stored separately or with the application.
V. Administrative Procedures
10. Removing Voters from Lists
Names of ineligible voter registration records must be marked (flagged) as removed in the SOS
SWVRD in accordance with federal and state law. HAVA specifies that registrants who have
not voted in two consecutive general elections for federal office and have not responded to a
notice may be removed. The SOS currently does not physically delete a voter registration
record from the SOS SWVRD. The SOS SWVRD flags the voter registration record as
“Removed” placing the voter registration record in an inactive status.
The name of each registered voter must appear in the SWVRD. Upon notification from the
SOS SWVRD or by BOE discovery, potential duplicate voter registration records must be
resolved and the SOS SWVRD updated within two business days of notification or discovery.
Please note: Although ineligible registrants (voters) must be flagged as removed, BOEs shall
exercise extreme caution and use internal BOE or SOS business practices to safeguard
against eligible voter registration records from being flagged in error.
11. Data Format Rules
The SOS SWVRD will verify, via database validation and other programmatic checks, the
number of the data fields being sent from a BOE VRS to the SOS SWVRD. This section
outlines the basic validation rules applied to each field.

SOS Voter ID: The SOS Voter ID is the unique state identification number provided by
the SOS in which BOEs use to identify a voter within the SOS SWVRD. This ID is 12
characters long; the first two characters are “OH” followed by a 10-character number. A
sample valid voter ID appears as: “OH1234567890.”

Social Security: The last 4 digits of a voter’s Social Security number are stored in the SOS
SWVRD. If the Social Security number is unknown, the field should be left blank. The
SOS SWVRD will check an active voter’s Social Security number, birth date and other
information against data stored by the BMV. If a different birth date or BMV ID is found
for a voter, the SOS SWVRD will not be able to “confirm” the record and will send back
one of the following messages:
o “1042 Search by SSN revealed different birth day”; or
o “1043 Search on SSN revealed different BMV ID than the one provided.”
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
BMV: The Bureau of Motor Vehicle identification number is either an Ohio driver license
number or a state identification number. If the BMV ID is unknown, the field should be
left blank. If provided, the BMV ID must be exactly eight characters long. The first two
characters are upper case letters followed six digits. If the SOS SWVRD does not have a
voter’s Social Security number, the SOS will check an active voter’s BMV ID with the
Bureau of Motor Vehicles. If the BMV has a different birth date for the voter, the SOS
SWVRD will not be able to “confirm” the voter and will send the following message:
o “1044 Search by BMV ID revealed different birth day.”

First Name, Last Name, and Birth Date: These three separate fields are required for
every voter registration record. The First Name and Last Name fields may each be up to 50
characters long. The Birth Date field must always be provided in “YYYY-MM-DD”
format. If a voter record is sent to the SOS SWVRD with no Social Security number or
BMV ID, the SOS SWVRD will perform a name, birth date and address check with the
BMV. If the BMV finds a match but with a different address the SOS SWVRD will not be
able to “confirm” the voter and will send the following message:
o “1045 Search by name, birthday and address found a match but the addresses were not
the same.”

Phone Number: If a voter’s phone number is unknown, the field should be left blank. If
included, it must contain the area code with parenthesis, followed by a space, the phone
exchange, and a dash followed by the last four digits of the phone number. A properly
formatted example is: (614) 555-1234.

Address Fields: The following fields within an address are verified to ensure conformity
with the U. S. Postal Service’s addressing standards. Postal address errors sent to BOEs
must be corrected and resent to the SOS before a voter record is assigned an SOS Voter ID.
o House Number: Identifies the location of the house;
o Secondary Indicator: Four-character U.S. postal code identifying a multi-family
residence. The SOS SWVRD will reject records with invalid secondary indicators;
o Street Name: Free form used to identify the name of the street;
o Street Description: Four-character U.S. postal code identifying the type of street. The
SOS SWVRD will reject records with invalid street descriptions;
o Pre-Street Direction: Directional or compass type prefix for the street name. The SOS
SWVRD will reject records with invalid pre-street direction designation;
o Post-Street Direction: Directional or compass type postfix for the street name. The
SOS SWVRD will reject records with invalid post-street direction designation;
o Secondary Address: Free form second address line supporting legacy addresses;
o City: Free form identifying the city;
o Zip code: Five-digits identifying the U.S. ZIP code;
o State: Free form identifying the state;
o Country: Free form identifying the country;
o Country Postal Code: Foreign equivalent of a U.S. ZIP code; and
o Geo-code: Two fields indicating the precise longitude and latitude used only by
BOE/vendors that track geo-code information.
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
PO Box: Associated with a mailing address. A residence may not include a post office box.
When only a post office box is present, the box information is put in the street name.

Dual Address: Contains both street and post office box information. If possible, dual
addresses should be split into their component residence and mailing addresses. If that is
not possible, the post office box portion of the mailing address may be placed in the
secondary address field.

Valid Birth Dates: Voter records must include a birth date provided in YYYY-MM-DD
format. The SOS SWVRD will perform programmatic validations to ensure that the voter
is of legal voting age. If DOB is unknown use (1900-01-01).

Registration Dates: Voter records must include a registration date provided in
YYYY-MM-DD format and must not be greater than current date. If registration date is
unknown use (1800-01-01)

Unique County ID: Voter records must include a unique county ID. If a BOE sends a
voter that has a duplicate county ID within the same county, the SOS SWVRD will reject
the record.

Unique Political Districts: A voter record may only be assigned to one precinct. If a voter
is assigned to more than one of the same type of political district (e.g. precinct, ward, etc.),
the SOS SWVRD will reject the record. The BOE must resolve this problem and resend
the voter record information in order for the voter to be accepted and stored in the SOS
SWVRD.
12. Political Regions
The SOS SWVRD currently tracks 16 different political regions. The SOS has predefined and
will maintain 12 regions that may cross county boundaries. For the remaining four regions,
each BOE must define these regions before they can be used.
12.1. Defining County Regions
The BOE must define county court districts, precincts, townships and wards. Then, via the
BOE VRS process, the defined regions must be transmitted to the SOS SWVRD before they
can be assigned to a voter record. BOE-maintained political districts must conform to the
following SOS naming rules:

In submitting the new region to the SOS SWVRD, BOE districts must begin with the two
digit county code identifying the BOE. This ensures that no two county names overlap. If a
BOE-submitted political region does not follow this rule, the region will be rejected by the
SOS SWVRD and the BOE will be sent a message similar to the following:
o 2401 Local district (AAA-1) must begin with your two digit county code.
Once the above message is received, the BOE may rename the region and resubmit the
region name to the SOS SWVRD;
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
Precincts have additional naming constraints. Precinct code names must include the SOS
assigned precinct state code (three-character designation such as “AAA”.) Thus, a valid
precinct name must begin with the county code followed by the state code. For example, a
precinct name with a county code of “27” and a state code of “AAA” would be: “27AAA”;

Given that the SOS defines state precinct codes, BOEs must first request the state code
from the SOS for precinct code name changes. The SOS will determine if the BOE
precinct code names follow the naming constraints. If the SOS determines that the precinct
code names do not follow the constraints, the state will require the BOE to update their
precinct code names to conform to such standards.
12.2. Statewide Political Regions
The SOS maintains the following political regions: career center districts, city school district,
congressional districts, Court of Appeals districts, educational service center districts,
exempted village school districts, library districts, local school districts, Municipal Court
districts, State Board of Education districts, State House of Representatives districts, and State
Senate districts.
12.2.1. Missing State-Maintained Political Region
Occasionally, a BOE may believe the SOS SWVRD is missing a political region. When this
occurs, the BOE must contact the SOS, Elections Division (swvrd@sos.state.oh.us) and
request that the missing region(s) be added to the SOS SWVRD legal region list. The SOS will
review such request to determine if the region should be added. If the SOS determines
otherwise, the SOS will direct the BOE to use the appropriate region. The BOE must wait for a
response from the SOS before adding voter records to any region in question.
12.2.2. Board Name Change Request
BOEs may realize that a political region name stored in the SOS SWVRD is out of date. Upon
such discovery, the BOE should contact the SOS Elections Division at swvrd@sos.state.oh.us.
The BOE will inform the SOS of the current political region and why the BOE believes the
other region name is incorrect. The SOS will review the request and change the name of the
political region, provide an effective date, or confirm that the existing name is correct. If the
existing name is correct, the BOE will use that name. If the region name is changed, the BOE
will begin using the new region name on the effective date. There is no need to reload region
information for the voter records with the new region name; name changes will be done
automatically and stored in the SOS SWVRD.
12.2.3. SOS Changes Region Name
Occasionally, the SOS may need to update statewide political regions. When this occurs, the
SOS will e-mail the BOEs detailing the change and the effective date. Starting on the effective
date, BOEs will use the new name when referring to those political regions. No update is
required; name changes will be done automatically and stored in the SOS SWVRD.
12.2.4. SOS Removes State-Defined Regions
In the event a state defined political region is removed, the state will email the BOEs informing
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them of the date on which the region will be deleted from the SOS SWVRD. BOEs must
follow the appropriate update procedures for each voter record affected by the deletion, on or
before the effective date that the region will be deleted.
12.2.5. SOS Adds State-Defined Regions
In the event that a new political region is added by the state, the state will e-mail the BOEs
informing them when the new region will be available and the date by which all voters affected
by the new region must be appropriately updated and moved.
13. Legal Lists
The SOS maintains a number of legal lists, which are used to ensure that the BOEs are
providing valid data to the SOS. BOE data that is validated against these lists include:
 Voter status;
 Political district type;
 Election type;
 Registration location (included as part of the location statistics data);
 Party affiliation;
 Registration type;
 Address secondary indicator;
 Street description; and
 Street direction.
13.1. Legal List Changes
Periodically, the SOS may need to add or remove a code from one or more legal lists. For
instance, when a new political party is recognized or a previous party is no longer recognized
by the state of Ohio, the party affiliation list will be modified. When such a change occurs, the
BOE must update their VRS and locally maintained lists to reflect the appropriate change.
13.1.1 Adding a New Value
If the SOS adds new codes or values to a legal list, the following steps will occur:
1. SOS sends an e-mail to the BOEs alerting them of the pending change and the effective
date;
2. BOEs may confirm the details of a change by issuing a code request within their VRS. This
will cause the SOS SWVRD to send the BOE a complete list of legal values for the
requested code type; and
3. On or before the effective date, BOEs must update their system to use the new code(s).
13.1.2. Removing a Value
If the SOS removes a code or value the following steps will occur:
1. SOS sends an email to the BOEs alerting them of the pending change and the effective date;
2. BOEs may stop sending the code at any point; however, the return list will not reflect the
change until the SOS effective date; and
3. On or before the SOS effective date, BOEs must remove the deleted code. If a BOE fails to
do this, the SOS may reject BOE submissions as invalid codes.
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14. Edit Checks
The “Voter Names” field may consist of characters “A” through “Z” with optional spaces,
hyphens, or apostrophes. The SOS SWVRD will validate the name. If an illegal character is
found, the SOS SWVRD will generate a BOE error message similar to “2814 Last name has
illegal character(s) (Smith7).”
14.1. Invalid Name Sent to SOS
When an error occurs and the name sent to the SOS contains invalid characters, the BOE must
update their database and resubmit the voter record to the SOS SWVRD.
14.2. Valid Name Sent to SOS
When a voter’s legal name consists of characters normally considered invalid, the BOE must
set the edit check over-ride switch to a value of ‘Y’ and send or resend the voter record to the
SOS SWVRD.
15. Response Time Requirements
BOE VRSs are required to meet certain performance standards. When a BOE or vendor
repeatedly fails to meet these performance standards, the SOS may deem it necessary for the
BOE and vendor to update their system. The SOS, BOE and corresponding vendor will work
together to establish a schedule that addresses such performance issues. If either the vendor or
the BOE fails to comply, they risk losing their SOS compliance status.
15.1. Resolving Duplicates
The SOS SWVRD will notify a BOE of potential duplicate voter registration records as soon as
they are identified. The BOE will be responsible for researching and resolving the potential
duplicate voter registration records using SOS policies and procedures as well as internal BOE
business processes. If it is determined that the records in question are indeed duplicates the
BOE must take the required action. For more information regarding resolving issues related to
duplicate records, please see Section 26 of this manual entitled Duplicate Resolution. Please
note: In an effort to maintain data integrity it is extremely important that the BOEs
follow the proper order within the duplicate resolution process.
15.1.1. Inter-BOE (County)
Potential duplicate voter records residing in two or more counties must be resolved within five
business days of notification. Duplicates that were identified during the initial load of BOE
data to the SOS SWVRD are exempt from this, however, and will be dealt with separately.
15.1.2. Intra-BOE (County)
Potential duplicate voter records located within a single county must be resolved within three
business days of notification. Duplicates that were identified during the initial load of the
BOE data to SOS SWVRD are exempt from this, however, and will be dealt with separately.
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15.2 XML Error Correction
System errors resulting from bad XML must be corrected within five business days after
receiving notification from the SOS. Bad XML resulting from the BOE’s VRS, vendor
programming or other system error must be reported to the vendor and the SOS as soon as they
are detected by the BOE. In such an event the SOS, BOE, and the VRS vendor will establish a
resolution and re-compliance testing schedule.
15.3. Packet Resend Times (For Technical/Vendor Staff)
Occasionally BOE initiated transactions or XML packets may “time-out” or fail to complete.
In such cases, the BOE VRS should be configured to automatically resend failed transactions
(XML packets) using the original transaction number. The table below lists the XML packet
type (name), XML purpose and the systematic resend time. Please note: No BOE action is
required to resend the transaction; it is done automatically by the VRS.
Packet Type
Purpose
Resend Time
Out (in minutes)
BOE_CODE_RQST
Updates legal list
30
BOE_ELECTION_RQST
Receives election ID
30
BOE_ELECTION_VOTERS
Updates voting history
7200 (5 days)
BOE_INIT
Updates authentication information
30
BOE_LOC_STATS
Updates voter registration location statistics
30
BOE_REG_UPDT
Updates county-defined political districts
30
BOE_REG_VOTERS
Update political districts for a single voter
30
BOE_VR_NEW
Transmits a new voter to the SOS
30
BOE_VR_UPDT
Transmits changes to a voter to the SOS
30
BOE_VR_INIT
Initialization of voters to the SOS
2880 (2 days)
BOE_VR_MERGE
Merges an old voter under a new state ID
30
BOE_WAIT
Requests the SOS system to wait before
sending data or to resume after waiting
30
Please note: System response time between the SOS and a BOE may vary depending on the
number BOEs and the number of transactions (XML packets) being sent to the SOS SWVRD.
Larger files take longer to receive, process and acknowledge. However, the sending of large
files is a more efficient way to transfer information.
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15.3.2. SOS Transaction Types (For Technical/Vendor Staff)
Occasionally SOS initiated transactions (XML packets) may time out as well. This is usually
due to the SOS SWVRD not receiving timely responses from the BOE VRS. In these cases,
the SOS SWVRD is configured to automatically resend the XML packet using the original
transaction number. The table below indicates which XML packets will be resent and the
resend times. Please note: No BOE Action is required.
Packet Type
Purpose
Resend Time Out
(in minutes)
SOS_INIT
Updates authentication information
30
SOS_REG_RQST
Request for auditing a list of voters in a
political district
60
SOS_VR_DUPLICATE
Notifies of the existence of a potential
duplicate, the BOE_ACK must be returned
to acknowledge receipt
60
SOS_VR_ID
Notifies of state ID for a new voter
2880 (2 days) during
initialization
60 normal production
SOS_VR_RQST
Requests for auditing voter information by
state ID number
60
SOS_WAIT
Requests for Board VRS to stop sending
information until further notice or a request
to resume sending data
30
15.4. BMV Not Confirmed (this process is currently turned off)
Upon receipt of a voter registration record or update, the SOS SWVRD will validate
certain voter information with the BMV. If the SOS and BMV validation is unable to
match the voter record, it may not be confirmed. If this occurs the SOS SWVRD sends
the BOE a message stating that the record may not be “confirmed.” Voter records that
are not confirmed must have their information updated and resent to the SOS SWVRD
and validation with the BMV will be reattempted.
15.5. BOE VRS Registration Location Statistics
The SOS will request updated registration location statistics from BOE by e-mail, in
which the date by which the information must be sent will be specified. BOEs using
their VRS processes must complete location statistics and transmit the statistics to the
SOS SWVRD on or before the SOS specified date.
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15.6. Voting History Upload
Due to the large volume of data to be transmitted following an election, BOE will
receive a scheduled date to send their voting history to the SOS SWVRD. The SOS
will develop a schedule that staggers the history transmissions in an effort to balance the
load on the SOS SWVRD. Unless instructed otherwise, election results must be sent on
the specified date.
15.7. General Responsiveness
BOE VRSs must be designed and developed to respond to all SOS system messages as
quickly as possible. If a BOE VRS consistently fails to respond to SOS messages
within one-hour of receipt, the BOE and vendor may be de-certified.
16. Audit Checks
Ohio employs a “bottom-up” approach to performing audit checks, meaning data flows
from a BOE database to the SOS SWVRD. In order to maximize and maintain
synchronization between the databases, the SOS initiates system audits. There are two
types of system audits; weekly and detailed.
Weekly: The SOS sends a transaction to various BOE VRSs requesting information for
particular political districts. The corresponding BOE transaction back to the SOS will
list all state voter IDs for the requested political districts.
Detailed: The SOS sends a transaction to a BOE, which passes specific voter IDs. The
corresponding BOE transaction back to the SOS contains the all the voter information
data fields for the requested voter IDs.
16.1. Frequency of Checking
Weekly: Currently, every Friday the SOS will systemically send the transaction to the
BOEs. However, BOEs that regularly have no audit errors may see the frequency rate
decrease for their BOE.
Detailed: The SOS will initiate periodically for a percentage of voter records for a
specific precinct within the BOE.
16.2. Resolving Audit Issues
The SOS auditing function will adjust auditing results to compensate for pending
transactions by requesting a new audit report once the pending transactions have had a
chance to be uploaded to the SOS SWVRD. However, audit errors not related to
pending transactions will fall into one of the following categories:
 Omissions: Voter records that should have been sent to the SOS but were excluded
from the transaction;
 Additions: Voter records not currently listed in the SOS SWVRD for a particular
region but appear in the BOE database; and
 Differences: Voter records whose information stored in the BOE database is
different from the information stored in the SOS SWVRD.
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Please note: Regardless of the audit category; BOEs must make every effort to
reconcile errors within five business days or before BOE poll books are printed during
an election cycle, whichever is sooner. All audit errors will be considered the result of
BOE VRSs not sending the appropriate transaction, or BOE staff performing a process
out of sequence or not performing a required process at all. Excessive audit findings
(more than 0.01% of a BOE’s registered voters) over a four-month period may result in
the BOE/vendor VRS losing its SOS compliant status.
16.3. Manual Audits
Periodically, the SOS may perform manual audits of BOE poll books against the
SWVRD. These audits will require the BOE to provide a printout or electronic copy of
one or more precinct poll books to the SOS for manual review and validation. If the
SOS discovers that voter records are appearing on the printed poll book that are not in
the SOS SWVRD, the poll book contains non-matching information from the SOS
SWVRD, or the poll book has omissions that are listed in the SOS SWVRD, the
BOE/vendor VRS may lose their SOS compliant status.
17. BMV Not Confirmed Results in Second Voter ID
(BMV confirmation is currently NOT being performed.)
If the SOS cannot confirm the voter record with the BMV and there are no potential
duplicates for the voter, the SOS may send a second voter record ID to the BOE.
18. Initialization
BOE initializations are expected to run without interruption, until completion. Any
BOE VRS activity (e.g. adding voters, changing voters, etc.) that occurs during the
initialization process will be queued and sent to the SOS SWVRD once the BOE
initialization has completed. However, the SOS will allow BOE transactions that are
required to complete the initialization while in this phase. Key transaction restrictions
are as follow:
 A BOE may not place its VRS in a “WAIT” during initialization;
 A BOE may send ONLY one initialization transaction. Any additional transactions
must be sent after the BOE is active;
 No “heartbeat” transactions may be sent during initialization; and
 The SOS will accept only three transactions (registration update, voter initialization
and registration list) during an initialization.
At the time they first connect to the SOS SWVRD, BOEs will load their voter list once.
BOEs may facilitate this process by following in order the steps outlined below.
Step 1 – Manual Connectivity Check with SOS
The BOE must confirm that an FTP connection has been established with the
SOS. The SOS will provide setup instructions that include a server IP
address, an FTP username, and password, and a directory that the BOE must
use to test the FTP login. Similarly, the BOE must provide the same
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information to the SOS. If the BOE and SOS successfully establish manual
FTP connections and are able to transfer a sample 1-megabyte text (not an
XML) file, the BOE will proceed to the next step.
Step 2 – Provide SOS with Voter Count
The BOE must provide the SOS with the total number of eligible voters for
their BOE. This count will be used to confirm that all eligible voters for the
BOE were successfully loaded into the SOS SWVRD.
Step 3 – Exchange of Connectivity Information with the SOS
The BOE begins the initialization process by sending the BOE INIT
transaction. This provides the SOS with the FTP connection information
that will be used to send transactions (data) to the BOE. The SOS will
respond with their SOS INIT transaction. Once the SOS INIT transaction has
been acknowledged, the BOE and SOS will have the connectivity
information required to electronically communicate with each other.
Step 4 – Create Local Political Districts
The BOE must create the local/BOE maintained political districts. The
SWVRD field names for the locally maintained district types include
CNTYCRT, PRECINCT, TWP, and WARD. Once the SOS acknowledges
receipt of the information, the BOE may proceed to the next step.
Step 5 – Send Voters
The BOEs will send a BOE voter registration initialization transaction to the
SOS for each eligible voter. The number of voters sent must match the
reported number from Step 2. The SOS will respond to each BOE INIT
transaction with their SOS voter registration ID transaction, which assigns
the voter record their unique state voter-ID. Then BOE responds with an
acknowledgment transaction indicating they received the voter ID.
Step 6 – Confirm SOS Sync - Respond to SOS Audit Requests
The SOS will send an audit request transaction to the BOE for each precinct
in the county. The BOE will respond with the corresponding audit
transaction listing the state IDs per precinct. Once the SOS audit request has
been completed, the BOE may proceed to the next step.
Step 7 – Adding Missing Voters during Initialization
The BOEs may determine that voter records were missed during the
initialization process. In such cases, the BOE will send these records to the
SOS using their INIT transaction mentioned in Step 5. However, after a
BOE has gone active, the BOE must send voter records using the BOE new
voter registration transaction. Voter records sent to the SOS SWVRD via
the BOE INIT transaction must be acknowledged before a BOE can proceed.
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Step 8 – Decision to Move Board VRS to ACTIVE status
The SOS will consider all open issues that a BOE has. If a BOE has an
unacceptable number of open issues (>1% of voters in their county), the
SOS Director of Elections, may elect to back-out the BOE initialization load
and direct the BOE to resolve the issues. If the SOS decides to move
forward with initialization, the BOE will be placed in an active status.
However, any remaining open issues must be resolved even though the BOE
has an active status. In this case, any “missing” voter records must be sent
using the BOE registration transaction for “new” voter records and not the
BOE voter registration initialization transaction.
Step 9 – Normal operations begin
The SOS will send the BOE an e-mail indicating that the BOE is now
ACTIVE and may begin operations. One of the first transactions that the
BOE will receive from the SOS is a “heartbeat” transaction, which verifies
that the BOE system is online and operating. Once the BOE is active, the
SOS will no longer accept or respond BOE voter registration initialization
transactions and will begin responding to all other BOE transactions that
were prohibited during the initialization phase.
19. Election Request/Voting History
The SOS requires that each BOE provide the list of voters that participated in an SOS
identified election. The SOS SWVRD and BOE VRS processes used to identify such
elections for which results are required are as follows:



The SOS will periodically send out an e-mail identifying the elections for which
results will be required. If an election is not on this list, the BOE should not submit
those results to the SOS;
Before sending any transactions with election results the BOE must make certain
that their VRS is set to use the election name and unique ID identified in the SOS email. This may be accomplished by the BOE via its VRS requesting the election
information from the SOS. The SOS SWVRD will respond with a transaction
delivering the correct ID; and
Once the BOE VRS has the unique election ID, the BOE must send via their VRS
the appropriate election information for each voter record that voted in requested
election. Please note: In the case of a primary election, the voter’s party affiliation
needs to be sent as well.
20. Location Statistics
Occasionally, the SOS will request that BOEs provide location registration statistics.
The SOS SWVRD and BOE VRS processes that will be used to identify such
registration location statistics are as follows:
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Step 1 – SOS Requests Location Statistics
The SOS will periodically send out an e-mail requesting voter registration
location statistics for a specific date range.
Step 2 – Board VRS Provides Location Statistics
BOEs upon receiving the email request will follow their VRS process to
send the location statistics for each calendar month that is within the date
range requested in the SOS e-mail.
21. Communication Issues
The SOS SWVRD employs a systematic message check to verify that electronic
communications are operational between the SOS SWVRD and all BOE VRSs.
21.1. Heartbeat Hold
The electronic message check in the SOS SWVRD is referred to as the “heartbeat.”
The heartbeat is an electronic single that bounces back and forth between the SOS and
all BOEs. The SOS expects that a BOE will respond to the SOS heartbeat whenever
one is sent. If for some reason a BOE fails to respond within a predefined timeframe,
another heartbeat signal is sent. If three consecutive heartbeats are sent without a BOE
response, the SOS will indicate that the BOE VRS is non-responsive and place a “hold”
status on the BOE. When a BOE VRS is placed on hold, no transactions will be
transmitted to that BOE until the hold is released. Once the SOS receives a transaction
from the BOE, this signals the SOS SWVRD to release the “hold” and resume normal
activity for that BOE.
A BOE VRSs may fail to respond to a heartbeat for the following reasons:
 The BOE FTP Server is Down (non-operational): If a BOE VRS FTP server is
down (non-operational) or was not successfully started, the SOS will be unable to
transfer the heartbeat successfully to the BOE;
 The BOE VRS Software has a Problem: If the BOE VRS software fails or is not
running properly, it may not be able to respond to the heartbeat; or
 There is a Network Problem: Network, power and equipment failures may impact
the FTP communication between the SOS SWVRD and a BOE VRSs.
21.1.1. Troubleshooting Communication Issues
 BOEs need to determine if their FTP server is down (non-operational), as
this may be causing the issue. BOEs should have vendor provided
documentation on to how to check the status of the FTP server. If the BOE
FTP server is down, the BOE should use the vendor-specified procedure to
restart it. If communication resumes, the issue is usually resolved.
 If the FTP server is operational, determine if the BOE VRS software is
operating. Again, each BOE should have vendor-specified methods to
determine if the software is operational. If the BOE determines that the
vendor’s software is non-operational, the BOE should follow the vendor
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
restart process. If communication resumes, the issue is usually resolved.
If the BOE’s FTP server is running and the BOE VRS appears to operating
normally, the BOE must contact the SOS assistance via e-mail at:
swvrd@sos.state.oh.us.
21.2. Unresponsiveness Metric
The SOS SWVRD tracks the number of times a BOE VRS is placed on hold. If the
SOS finds a BOE is repeatedly being placed on hold without just cause, the SOS may
elect to move to decertify that BOE/vendor VRS.
21.3. County Hold
Upon discovery that a BOE VRS is not responding to SOS initiated heartbeats, the SOS
may place the BOE VRS on hold A BOE is never to place the SOS SWVRD on hold.
If a BOE VRS does not receive a response from the SOS, the BOE VRS must continue
resending their transaction until the SOS SWVRD successfully responds. If a BOE
VRS places the SOS SWVRD on hold this may result in that BOE VRS being
continuously out of communication.
22. Planned Downtime-Wait
On occasion, it may become necessary for the SOS or a BOE to perform system
maintenance. If such maintenance might affect the ability of the SOS or the BOE to
respond to or initiate transactions, the maintenance process must include a step that
informs the SOS or the BOE that no transaction may be sent until further notice.
22.1. BOE VRS Maintenance
When a BOE knows that it will be performing maintenance that will disable or
compromise the ability to participate actively (sending and receiving transactions), the
BOE must place their VRS in a wait state. This may be accomplished by the BOE
initiating a “wait” within their VRS by setting the wait status field to “Y.” Once the
SOS receives and acknowledges the BOE’s “wait” status, the SOS SWVRD will stop
sending transactions to that BOE. In order to release the “wait” the BOE VRS must
initiate another “wait” transaction with the wait status field set to ”N.” Please note: A
BOE may go on “wait” if the SOS already has the BOE on “wait.”
22.2. SOS Maintenance
When the SOS knows that it will be performing maintenance that will disable or
compromise the ability to participate actively (sending and receiving transactions), the
SOS will place itself in a “wait”state. The SOS may accomplish this by sending the
BOE VRS a “wait” transaction. The BOE VRS will acknowledge the “wait” and queue
their transactions to be sent later. In order to release the “wait” the SOS will send
another “wait” transaction to the BOE, which will remove the wait status.
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22.3. Wait Policy
At times, the SOS may use non-standard work hours to perform “audits” and other
SWVRD tasks. If a BOE places themselves in a “wait” state this will interfere with
SOS and BOE electronic communications. Thus, BOEs are not to be in wait status
when maintenance activity is being performed. BOEs placing themselves in wait
status at the close of business each day, will impact non-standard working hours
system activity, which is considered a misuse of the “wait” transaction.
The SOS SWVRD will track how frequently a BOE VRS goes on “wait.” If the SOS
determines that a BOE VRS is going on “wait” too often, the SOS will inform the BOE
and request that they alter their approach to using the “wait.” After such notification, if
the SOS notices no significant change on the part of the BOE, the SOS may elect to
start the decertification process with the BOE/vendor VRS.
23. Communication Changes
Periodically, it may become necessary for the SOS or a BOE to alter their electronic
communication parameters.
23.1. BOE Password, FTP Directory, or Contact E-mail Changes
Understanding that passwords, directory, or contact e-mail address may change from
time to time; when such a change is required, the BOE using their VRS process will
send the SOS SWVRD the updated information in a new “INIT” transaction. For best
results, the BOE should send the “INIT” transaction to the SOS first and wait for SOS
acknowledgment before updating the data on the BOE server. This also gives the SOS
an opportunity to report any errors before the change is applied at the BOE end.
23.2. BOE IP Address Change
A BOE may NOT change its SOS-assigned FTP server IP address. If new hardware is
required, the new hardware must be assigned the old IP address.
23.3. SOS FTP Password or Directory Change
Similar to BOE communication changes, SOS configuration changes need to be
communicated to the BOEs. Such communication occurs by the SOS sending the BOE
an “INIT” transaction. When an “INIT” transaction is received by the BOE, the BOE
VRS musy acknowledge it using the newly specified parameters.
23.4. SOS IP Address Change
The SOS will not change its FTP server address. If new hardware is required, the new
hardware will be assigned the old IP address.
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24. VRS Software Changes/Re-compliance
24.1. VRS Software Changes – Re-compliance
The SOS requires that BOE/vendor VRS pass a compliance test prior to granting
authorization for use by the BOEs. This test verifies that the vendor’s communication
software and VRS operate in a manner that is consistent with the SOS specifications.
Once a vendor has passed compliance testing, the SOS will issue a provisional
compliance certificate that will be valid for 30 days of operations. If no problems are
encountered during this 30 day period, an official permanent compliance certificate will
be issued, stating the BOE may use the version of the VRS software and
communication software that passed compliance testing. However, two conditions may
arise causing a vendor to have their compliance certification revoked. In this event, the
BOE/vendor VRS will be subject to additional compliance testing. The two conditions
causing a VRS to become noncompliant are described in the following two sections.
24.1.1. Software Changes
Changes to the communication software or the VRS, if the communication software is
integrated into the BOE VRS, require the vendor to pass a compliance test prior to
making the new version generally available to BOEs. VRS vendors may release beta
versions of their software in one or more BOEs to verify that the software is working
correctly prior to compliance testing and general release. However, a new version will
not be considered compliant until it passes administered compliance testing in the SOS
sandbox (test environment).
A compliance test is always administered in its entirety and any detected errors will be
noted. A compliance test will not terminate until the testing cycle is complete unless
the system is incapable of proceeding due to an error.
If a VRS vendor fails compliance testing (is not able to perform all of the predefined
operations), the VRS vendor must reschedule an additional test in the SOS sandbox.
Vendors must schedule the use of the sandbox with the SOS’ IT Division to test VRS
functionality. Once the vendor demonstrates that previously detected errors have been
corrected, they need to reschedule with the SOS for their next compliance test. A
follow-up test may be rescheduled no sooner than two days after the completion of the
previously administered test which failed.
24.1.2. Consistent Failure to Meet System Performance
Requirements
The SOS has defined a number of response and performance criteria that VRS vendors
must meet in order to maintain their compliant status. If a vendor’s software repeatedly
fails to meet these standards, the SOS may withdraw the VRS vendor’s compliant
status. In this event, the VRS vendor must make improvements to their VRS
performance, which will require the VRS to pass another compliance test. A vendor’s
VRS may be used provisionally for no more than six months after a compliant status is
withdrawn. If the VRS vendor fails to produce software that can consistently meet the
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performance standards in that period, the BOE must replace the software with a VRS
product that is considered SOS compliant.
If a BOE consistently fails to meet the response and performance criteria using a vendor
VRS that meets such criteria in other BOEs, the BOE in question must address and
resolve this sub-performance issue with the VRS vendor or switch to another SOScompliant VRS.
Steps for a BOE converting to a new vendor VRS after the BOE has previously
gone “live” with another vendor’s VRS
A. A new VRS vendor converts old vendor data to their format preserving all SOS
and BOE IDs, and region names;
B. The BOE must edit and correct data - following rules for Social Security
number, political districts and name and address conventions and proper use of
the private address flag;
C. The SOS sends unacknowledged SOS voter registration IDs to the BOE;
D. The BOE VRS processes and acknowledges all transactions sent in step “B”;
E. The SOS releases any pending VR DUPLICATE transactions;
F. The BOE sends update transactions for all voter record changes made since the
date specified by the SOS for voter records that have a state ID. The BOE will
process all acknowledgement provided from the SOS SWVRD;
G. The BOE will send voter registration new transaction for all voter records that
do not have a SOS issued state-ID;
H. The SOS will issue a detail audit for every voter record in the BOE. All audit
issues must be resolved by the BOE before moving forward;
I. The SOS will verify that the BOE meets the SOS-provided data cleaning
standards (e.g. proper use of address, district, and name suffix fields). If issues
are found, the BOE must resolve them before moving forward; and
J. Sign off by the SOS, BOE and VRS vendor.
25.
Change Notification
25.1. Communicating Changes to the SOS Database
Any changes made to BOE registered voter records must be communicated to the SOS
SWVRD within two business days. The actual language in HAVA Section 303 (a) (1) (B) (VI)
is: “All voter registration information obtained by any local election official in the State shall
be electronically entered into the computerized list on an expedited basis at the time the
information is provided to the local official.” Therefore, all VRSs, in order to be compliant with
HAVA, must send to the SOS SWVRD any change made to the voter registration record
immediately after being entered or modified in the BOE VRS database. Voter registration
record changes made at the BOE level may not be accumulated and communicated on a daily
or weekly basis. Again, for emphasis, BOE VRSs must send electronically any changes (e.g.
new registration, modified voter, merged voter, removed voter, etc.) to the SOS SWVRD in an
expeditious within two business days.
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25.2. New Voters
Once a new voter record has been stored in a BOE VRS database; the BOE VRS must
send the new voter record to the SOS SWVRD within two business days, which will
enable the record to be stored in the SOS SWVRD. The BOE unique key for the voter
record must be included in the BOE transmission. The SOS will use the BOE-provided
unique key to acknowledge receipt of the new registration record. The value of this key
may be changed later if the voter record is found to be a duplicate. After SOS
processing, duplicate checking and storing the voter registration record the SOS will
send the BOE the state ID number assigned to that voter record. The BOE must
acknowledge receipt of the SOS-issued state-ID and may not send any additional
transactions for the voter registration record until the BOE confirms acknowledgement
of the state-ID.
25.3. In-process Flag
When a BOE VRS sends a new voter registration record to the SWVRD the voter
record will be flagged as “in process” which does not affect the voting status. “IN
PROCESS” means that no additional changes may be made to this voter record
and communicated to the SOS SWVRD until the SOS issues a state ID to the BOE
for the new voter registration record. If any information was omitted or changed
while the status of the voter registration record is in the “in process,” the BOE must
“update” the voter record in their VRS, which will send an update transaction to the
SOS for that voter registration record. Please note: BOEs may not issue the
“update” until the SOS issues the BOE the state ID for a voter registration record.
25.4. Changes to Voters
Anytime a BOE updates a voter registration record, its VRS must initiate a
corresponding update and send it the SOS SWVRD. The sections below indicate which
voter registration record changes are tracked within the SOS SWVRD. All BOE VRS
updates to voter registration record must be communicated to the SOS SWVRD within
two business days. If a BOE makes two or more changes to a voter registration record
within a few minutes of each other, it is only necessary for the BOE to send the final
values of each voter record (e.g. a BOE performs a name change with a typo and then
immediately corrects the typo). If the first change has not been sent before the second
change occurs; only the second or current values for the voter record are required to be
sent to the SOS.
25.4.1. What BOE Changes Trigger an Update
Table 25.4.1.1 below identifies the fields in the voter registration record that if changed
require the BOE to update the SOS SWVRD.
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Table 25.4.1.1
XML Tag Name
Boe_voter_id
Last name
First name
Middle name
Name_suffix
Birth_da
Registration_da
Registration_type
Voter_status
Bmv_id
SSN
SSN4
Phone
Birth_city
Birth_state
Birth_country
House_number
Secondary_indicator
Street_name
Street_description
Pre_street_direction
Post_street_direction
Secondary_address
Secondary_address_range
City
State
Zip_co
Zip_co4
Country
Country_postal_code
Geo_co
Voting_regions
Exclude_duplicates
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Definition
Unique identifier in the BOE VRS database one per voter
Last name - voter record
First name - voter record
Middle name - voter record
Suffix (e.g. JR, SR, III) - voter record
Date of birth - voter record (1-1-1800) if unknown
Date registered –voter rRecord (1-1-1900) if unknown
MAILIN or OTHER
Active, confirmation, dead, incarcerated, incompetent, or removed
Drivers license or state ID number – voter record
Social Security number – voter record
Social Security number (last 4 digits) – voter record
Phone number – voter record
Birth city – voter record
Birth state – voter record
Birth country – voter record
Address number (only) of residence or mailing address
Multi-family designation of residence or mailing address
Name (only) of the street of residence or mailing address
Pre-defined legal list value (e.g. ST, RD) of residence or
mailing address
Compass direction prefix (e.g. NW, SW) of street name of
residence or mailing address
Compass direction suffix (e.g. SE, NW) in street name of
residence or mailing address
Line two address information of residence or mailing address
Number / letter for multi-family dwelling of residence or
mailing address (e.g. Apartment B would simply be “B”)
City name in residence or mailing address
State name in residence or mailing address
Five digit ZIP code in residence or mailing address
Additional four digits of nine digit ZIP code in residence or
mailing address
Country if not U.S. in residence or mailing address
Country postal code if other than U.S. address
Longitude and latitude values if they are tracked by the board
VRS in residence or mailing address
Political regions for the voter that are tracked by the SOS if
only the political regions are changing for a voter, the BOE
will send a BOE register voter
If the list of potential duplicates for a voter that were
confirmed later change, this needs to be updated to the SOS
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25.4.2. What Must be Included in an Update
When a voter registration record is updated at the BOE level, the BOE must also send
an update to the SOS SWVRD. The update to the SOS SWVRD must contain the
complete voter record, not just the changed data. If the BOE leaves any field blank,
such fields will be set to “null” (blank) in the SOS SWVRD. For example, if the voter’s
last name changes and the update being sent to the SWVRD contains only the last
name, all other fields for that voter record will be cleared and stored as “null” in the
SOS SWVRD. All BOE updates to the SOS SWVRD must contain the entire voter
registration record.
25.4.3. Status Changes that Trigger an Update
If the voting status (ACTIVE, CONFIRMATION, DEAD, INCARCERATED,
INCOMPETENT, or REMOVED) of a voter registration record is changed at the BOElevel, such change in status must be sent to the SOS SWVRD.
25.4.4. Duplicate Resolutions that Trigger an Update
When a BOE resolves a duplicate voter registration record (see section 26 on duplicate
resolution) such resolution must be followed with either the BOE performing a merge
or a voter registration update with the SOS SWVRD. The “merge” and/or the “update”
must be sent to SOS within two business days of the duplicate resolution.
25.4.5. BMV Confirmation that Trigger an Update
The only way to change the BMV confirmation flag is by updating a voter registration
record’s “identifying” information, such as name, date of birth, SSN/state-ID, BMV-ID
or address, and sending it to the SOS SWVRD for confirmation. Thus any change to
“identifying” information requires the BOE sending an update to the SWVRD.
26.
Duplicate Resolution
HAVA requires that the Centralized Statewide Voter Registration Database (SWVRD)
have a duplicate voter registration record detection and resolution process. In an effort
to achieve this, the SOS SWVRD will systematically identify potential duplicate voter
registration records based on the following specific predefined criteria:
Exact Match - First name, last name, date of birth, SSN (last 4 digits) and BMV ID
Potential Match-1 - First name, last name, and date of birth
Potential Match-2 - SSN (last 4 digits)
Potential Match-3 - BMV ID
When the SOS SWVRD identifies a potential duplicate voter registration record, the
SOS SWVRD will systematically inform the BOE that has “ownership” of the voter
registration records in question. Upon receipt of the notification, the BOE must begin
the process of determining if the voter registration record is a duplicate or not. The
BOE will use internal and/or SOS-established business processes to analyze and
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resolve the duplicate in an expeditious manner (one to five business days). The SOS
will be monitoring the BOE’s resolution time and may take action if the BOE fails to
resolve or delay completing the duplicate resolution as defined. Several example
duplicate resolution scenarios are provided below. In the examples, the SOS assumes
that the duplicate voter registration records are in multiple counties (BOEs). However,
when potential duplicate voter registration records occur within the same county, the
BOE will follow the same procedure except for simply substituting “existing voter” for
BOE 01 and “new or updated voter” for BOE 02.
26.1. Exact Match
When one or more identifying voter registration records (first name, last name, date of
birth, SSN (last 4 digits) and the BMV ID) match, the voter records are considered to be
an “exact match” (same voter). In such cases, the SOS SWVRD will send notification
messages to the appropriate BOEs. The notification from the SOS will contain the
matching voter record state- ID along with setting the appropriate voter status to “DUP
RESOLUTION.” Table DUP-1 provides a step-by-step example of an “exact match”
duplicate resolution. Please read the table from left to right working your way down the
table. For the purpose of maintaining data integrity, it is of the utmost importance
that these steps are performed in the proper sequence.
Table DUP-1 (Duplicate Example-1)
BOE 01
BOE 01 enters a voter registration record with
county ID “13” and receives from the SOS
SWVRD a state ID of “OH0010000001”
BOE 01 receives a duplicate notification
message from the SWVRD containing the
matching data of the voter that was added by
BOE 02. Both BOE 01 and BOE 02 each have
a voter record with the state ID of
“OH0010000001.”
BOE 01 must investigate the duplicates. In
doing so, BOE 01 determines that the voter no
longer resides in their county.
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BOE 02
BOE 02 enters a voter registration record
with county ID “37,” which has “exact
match” values with BOE 01’s voter record
“OH0010000001.”
BOE 02 receives a duplicate notification
message from the SWVRD containing the
state ID of “OH0010000001.” The voter
status is set to “DUP RESOLUTION.” No
new record is stored in the SWVRD for the
BOE 02’s voter.
BOE 02 investigates the duplicate status as
well and determines that the voter has
recently moved from BOE 01 to BOE 02.
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BOE 01 updates the status of the voter record
in question to “REMOVED,” which indicates
to the SWVRD that the voter registration
record is no longer an eligible voter in BOE
01. BOE 01 now must inform BOE 02 that the
“REMOVE” has been completed for
“OH0010000001.”
BOE 02 updates the status of the voter
record in question to “ACTIVE,” which
indicates to the SWVRD that the voter
registration record now resides in BOE 02.
This clears the “DUP RESOLUTION” flag
and updates the BOE identifier in the
SWVRD giving “ownership” of the record
to BOE 02.
NOTE: No “merge” is performed on an “exact match” for duplicate resolution.
In the above example, if BOE 02 performs the update before BOE 01 performs the
“REMOVE,” BOE 02 will receive a message indicating that the voter registration record is not
assigned to their county. BOE 02 must wait until BOE 01 has performed the “REMOVE” and
informs BOE 02 that it may execute the voter status update of the voter registration record.
If during the duplicate resolution process it is determined that BOE 02 is the old (moved from
county), then BOE 02 performs the “REMOVE” and BOE 01 performs the update allowing the
voter registration record to be “ACTIVE” in BOE 01.
26.2. Potential Match
When one or more voter registration records match on some but not all of fields, the voter
records are considered “potential” duplicate records. In these cases, the SOS SWVRD will
send notification messages to the appropriate BOEs. The notification message will contain the
matching voter records state IDs and will set the appropriate voter status to “DUP
RESOLUTION.” Table DUP-2 provides a step-by-step example of a “potential” duplicate
resolution. Please read the table from left to right working your way down the table. For the
purpose of maintaining data integrity it is of the utmost importance that these steps are
performed in the proper sequence.
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Table DUP-2 (Duplicate Example-2)
BOE 01
BOE 01 enters a voter registration record with
county ID “13” and receives from the SOS
SWVRD a state ID of “OH0010000001.”
BOE 01 receives a duplicate notification
message from the SWVRD containing data
related to the voter record added in BOE 02.
The state ID for the primary voter record in
BOE 01 is “OH0010000001” and the state ID
for the secondary voter record in BOE 02 is
“OH0010000002.”
BOE 01 investigates the potential duplicates
and determines that the voter registration record
no longer resides in their county.
BOE 02
BOE 02 adds a new voter registration
record with county ID “37,” which has
some matching key values indicating a
potential duplicate with voter record
“OH0010000001” in BOE 01.
BOE 02 receives a duplicate notification
message from the SWVRD containing
the state ID of “OH0010000002” with a
voter status of “DUP RESOLUTION.”
The BOE 02 voter record is stored in the
SWVRD. BOE 02 also receives notice
of the BOE 01 potential duplicate.
BOE 02 investigates the potential
duplicates and determines that the voter
registration record has recently moved to
BOE 02 from BOE 01.
BOE 01 must perform a “MERGE” of their
voter record into the BOE 02 voter record. The
state ID for BOE 02 “OH0010000002” is the
voter ID and the state ID of BOE 01
“OH0010000001” is the “MERGE” ID.
Following BOE 01’s notification that the
“merge” is complete, BOE 02 will
update the voter status to “ACTIVE”
indicating to the SWVRD that voter
registration record now resides in BOE
02. The “DUP RESOLUTION” flag is
also cleared.
In Table DUP-2, if BOE 02 performs the update before BOE 01 performs the merge, then both
counties will most likely receive another duplicate message for the voter record. If this occurs,
BOE 01 must perform the “merge”, and notify BOE 02 that the “merge” has been completed.
BOE 02 must then perform their update.
In the event that a voter registration record was incorrectly entered with matching criteria with
another voter registration record, the BOE with the incorrect information must correct their
data, clear the SOS-assigned state ID; and then resend the voter registration record as a “new”
voter registration record. The BOE with the correct voter registration record will only need to
update the voter status to active. However, updating the correct voter registration to active
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may not occur until the incorrect voter record has been resolved. Alternatively, since the
identification information for the incorrect voter record is the same as the correct voter record,
the BOE with incorrect voter could mark their voter as removed and simply add a new voter
record with the correct information.
26.3. Not a Duplicate
The table below, Table NOT DUP (Example-3), is the process to follow when it is
determined that the records in question are not duplicates. Again, for clarification, the
table flows from left-to-right and top-to-bottom.
Table NOT DUP (Example-3)
BOE 01
BOE 01 enters a voter registration record with
county ID “13” and receives from the SOS
SWVRD a state ID of “OH0010000001.”
BOE 02
BOE 02 enters a voter registration record with
county ID “37” with key values indicating a
potential duplicate for “OH0010000001.”
BOE 01 receives a duplicate notification
BOE 02 receives a duplicate notification
message from the SWVRD containing data
message from the SWVRD containing the
related to the voter record added by BOE 02.
state ID of “OH0010000002” with a voter
The state ID for the primary voter record in
status of “DUP RESOLUTION.” The voter
BOE 01 is “OH0010000001” and the state ID record is stored in the SWVRD. BOE 02 also
for the secondary voter record in BOE 02 is
receives notice of BOE 01’s potential
“OH0010000002.”
duplicate.
BOE 01 investigates and determines that their BOE 02 investigates and determines that the
voter record is not a duplicate and the voter
voter record is not a duplicate and the voter
still resides in BOE 01 and is eligible to vote. still resides in BOE 02 and is eligible to vote.
BOE 01 updates their voter registration record BOE 02 updates their voter registration record
to “ACTIVE” and via its VRS performs an
to “ACTIVE” and via its VRS performs an
“exclude duplicates” transaction including the “exclude duplicates” transaction including the
state ID of BOE 02 “OH0010000002.”
state ID of BOE 01 “OH0010000001.”
26.4. Duplicating with Removed, Ineligible or Deceased Voters
HAVA requires that voter registration record’s state IDs be permanent even if the voter
moves out of state and then returns. Thus, the SOS SWVRD must track the voter
registration record’s state ID until the voter is confirmed as deceased. Due to this
requirement, a BOE may from time-to-time receive a potential duplicate message for a
voter record that is not active. In cases where the voter is still on the books in another
BOE as incarcerated, incompetent, or deceased, the duplicate procedure is then the
same as in Table NOT DUP (Example-3).
If a potential duplicate occurs where the voter registration record is marked as removed
in BOE 01 and the record still exists in the BOE 01 database, BOE 01 must update the
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voter status to active. This will result in a duplicate notification message being sent to
the appropriate BOEs. After receiving the duplicate notification message, BOE 01
must perform the appropriate action on the voter record either a merge or an update.
If a potential duplicate occurs where the voter registration record is marked as removed
in BOE 01 and the record no longer exists in the BOE 01 database, the duplicate
resolution process has to be performed differently. The BOE that has the current record
must perform a merge. This is the opposite of how BOEs would normally process a
merge. A BOE may only merge another BOE’s voter registration record into one of its
voter registration records if the other BOE’s voter registration record has a status of
removed. The removed voter registration record may be identified in the message text
that is sent along with a duplicate notification message that ends with “current status of
REMOVED.” The BOE from which the voter registration record is removed does not
receive a duplicate notification message. Only the BOE that sent the new voter
registration record that triggered the duplicate will receive the duplicate notification
message. If the voter registration record is determined to be a duplicate with the
removed voter record, the BOE with the new voter registration record must merge the
removed voter ID into its voter-ID. In these cases, the BOE performing the merge
request will assign its state ID as the SOS VOTER ID and the other BOE’s state ID as
the BOE MERGE ID.
If the identified voter registration record is determined not to be a duplicate, the BOE
will follow the normal procedure of updating the voter registration record to active
status and include the state ID of the removed voter registration record in the
EXCLUDE DUPLICATES section.
26.5. Multiple Duplicate Scenario
Occasionally, a new or updated voter registration record will result in multiple potential
duplicates within one or more BOEs. There are two approaches to resolving potential
duplicates of this type, as described below.
26.5.1. Multiple Resolutions
If a BOE receives notification of two or more potential duplicates for a voter
registration record and the BOE is able to resolve two or more of them at once, the BOE
may do so by using either option listed below in section 27.5.1.1. & 27.5.1.2.
26.5.1.1. Voter is not a Duplicate
If the BOE identifies that voter registration record “A” is not a duplicate with voter
registration records “B,” ”C,” etc., then the BOE may send the entire list of voter ID’s
to the SOS in a single “EXCLUDE DUPLICATES” transaction. This transaction will
result in all the voter registration records being added to the SWVRD and not flagged as
duplicate records.
26.5.1.2. Voter is a Duplicate
If the BOE identifies that the voter records are duplicates, the BOE will perform a
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merge of their voter registration record into the other BOE’s voter record. There is no
need to identify voter records in the “EXCLUDE DUPLICATES” transaction for voter
records that are going to be merged.
In the event another voter registration record is going to be merged into a BOE’s voter
registration record, that BOE needs to complete the merge before proceeding with the
update of the voter state IDs that were identified as not being duplicates.
26.5.2. Single Resolutions
If a BOE receives a duplicate notification message from the SOS regarding two or more
potential duplicate voter registration records, the BOE may choose to work and resolve
one duplicate at a time. Therefore, if voter registration record “A” is identified as a
potential duplicate with voter record “B,” “C,” etc., when the BOE updates voter record
“A” indicating it is not a duplicate with voter record “B” the BOE will receive a new
duplicate notification message indicating that voter “C,” etc., are potential duplicates.
Each potential duplicate may be processed individually and the SOS will send a
duplicate notification message for any remaining potential duplicates. Once a voter
registration record is updated to active, the “DUP RESOLUTION” status for that
particular voter record will be cleared even if it was the only duplicate to be resolved.
The SOS SWVRD resets the “DUP RESOLUTION” flag if there are any remaining
potential duplicate records. (See vendor diagram in Appendix D).
26.5.3. Within County Duplicates
During a BOE “initialization process,” it is possible for a BOE to receive two duplicate
messages per voter registration record, provided there are duplicate voter records within
the BOE. The first message will result from the first voter registration records and the
second from the second (duplicate) voter registration record sent in the transaction.
This possibility may only happen during BOE initialization. Should this occur only one
of the duplicate voter registration records needs to be resolved.
Please note: In all cases in which potential duplicate voter registration
records involve more than one BOE, the BOEs involved must work
together to resolve the potential duplicate voter records. Otherwise,
the BOEs and SOS SWVRD are at risk of having serious data integrity
issues within their respective databases. Such issues may also have a
negative impact on the production and printing of accurate poll books
and voter registration record management.
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VI. APPENDIX A –
Overview of Duplicate Handling Procedures
BOARD DUPLICATE HANDLING PROCEDURES
Type of
Duplicate
Matching
Fields
Actions to Verify
Actions to Resolve if Actions to
not a Duplicate
Resolve if you
Have the Old
Registration
EXACT
MATCH
SSN,
BMV,
LAST NAME,
FIRST NAME,
BIRTHDAY
Check registration
dates. The latest date
should be current
registration. This is
all the BOE needs to
do to verify duplicate
Shouldn't happen, if it
does, clear the state
ID and correct bad
information before
submitting voter as a
new registration.
Update voter
status to
“REMOVED” and
notify other BOE
that this has
been completed.
POTENTIAL SSN
MATCH
Check to see if one
or more birthdays are
defaulted. If nondefault birthdays do
not match, correct
SSN. If they are not
the same person,
one BOE has to have
the SSN wrong. If a
birthday is defaulted,
then check name and
as a final check
review signatures for
match.
If not a duplicate,
correct the SSN that
was entered
incorrectly and the
duplicate with this
voter should go away.
Other BOE should
update after the SSN
corrected.
Merge voter into
other the BOE’s
voter record and
notify the other
BOE once the
merge has been
completed.
BMV
Check to see if one
or more birthdays are
defaulted. If nondefault birthdays do
not match, correct
the BMV number. If
they are not the
same person, one
county has to have
the BMV wrong. If a
birthday is defaulted,
then check name and
as a final check
review signatures for
a match.
If not a duplicate,
correct the BMV that
was entered
incorrectly and the
duplicate with this
voter should go away.
Merge voter into
the other BOE’s
voter record and
notify other BOE
once the merge
has been
completed.
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Actions to
Resolve if you
Have the
Current
Registration
After other BOE
has updated
their voter
status to
REMOVED you
may update
your voter
status to
“ACTIVE.”
After other BOE
has completed
the merge,
update your
voter status to
“ACTIVE.”
After the other
BOE has
completed the
merge, update
your voter
status to
“ACTIVE.”
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BUSINESS PROCEDURES MANUAL
SSN,
BIRTHDAY
Check the last and
first names for
possible typos. If
none, verify that SSN
is correct and then, if
necessary, review
signatures. If they are
not the same person,
one BOE has to have
the SSN wrong.
Check last and first
names for possible
typos. If none, verify
that BMV is correct
and then, if
necessary, review
signatures. If they are
not the same person,
one BOE has to have
the BMV wrong.
If not a duplicate,
correct the SSN that
was entered
incorrectly and the
duplicate with this
voter should go away.
Other BOE should
update after SSN
corrected.
Merge voter into
the other BOE’s
voter record and
notify the other
BOE when the
merge has been
completed.
After the other
BOE has
completed their
merge, update
your voter
status to
“ACTIVE.”
If not a duplicate,
correct the BMV that
was entered
incorrectly and the
duplicate with this
voter should go away.
Other BOE should
update after BMV is
corrected.
Merge voter into
the other BOE’s
voter record and
notify the other
BOE that the
merge has been
completed.
After other BOE
has completed
their merge you
may update
your voter
status to
“ACTIVE.”
SSN,
LAST NAME,
BIRTHDAY
Check name for
possible typos or
differences. If none,
verify the SSN is
correct and then, if
necessary, review
signatures for a
match. If they are not
the same person,
one BOE has to have
the SSN wrong.
If not a duplicate,
correct the SSN that
was entered
incorrectly and the
duplicate with this
voter should go away.
Other BOE should
update after the SSN
is corrected.
Merge voter into
the other BOE’s
voter record and
notify the other
BOE that the
merge has been
completed.
After other BOE
has completed
their merge you
may update
your voter
status to
“ACTIVE.”
BMV,
LAST NAME,
BIRTHDAY
Check name for
possible typos or
differences. If none,
verify the BMV is
correct and then, if
necessary, review
signatures for a
match. If they are not
the same person,
one BOE has to have
the BMV wrong.
If not a duplicate,
correct the BMV that
was entered
incorrectly and the
duplicate with this
voter should go away.
The other BOE should
update after the BMV
is corrected.
Merge voter into
the other BOEs
voter record and
notify the other
BOE that the
merge has been
completed.
After other BOE
has completed
their merge you
may update
your voter
status to
“ACTIVE.”
LAST NAME,
BIRTHDAY
Perform standard
procedures for
verifying person,
including checking
signatures, etc.
Add voter to NOT
Merge voter into
DUPLICATES list and other BOEs voter
update.
record and notify
the other BOE
that the merge
has been
completed.
BMV,
BIRTHDAY
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After the other
BOE completes
the merge
update your
voter status to
“ACTIVE.”
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BUSINESS PROCEDURES MANUAL
The following is a model of how vendor software could handle duplicate resolutions in their
systems. The tables shown are samples and are not intended to define how the vendor’s table
should be configured.
Assume that you have voter record “A” in BOE 01. A partial view of that voter’s record might
look like this:
Voter Table
State Voter ID Voter_Status
A
ACTIVE
Dup_Resolution_flag BMV_Confirmation_flag
N
Y
This record shows that the voter is ACTIVE, no duplicates have been identified, and that he or
she is confirmed with the BMV.
Then assume that a number of duplicate notification messages arrive for this voter. Each
message (transaction) should be acknowledged once the software determines that the primary
voter ID exists in the BOE. This is an automatic acknowledgement and does not involve the
BOE staff. In addition, the “DUP RESOLUTION” flag for the primary voter should be set and
the information about the duplicates stored in a separate table under the primary voter ID as the
key. In this case, we might expect the tables to look like this after receiving and processing the
transactions:
Voter Table
State Voter ID Voter_Status
A
ACTIVE
Duplicate Table
Primary_id
A
A
A
A
Dup_id
B
B
C
D
Dup_Resolution_flag BMV_Confirmation_flag
Y
Y
County_co
02
02
01
05
Boe_id
Xxx
Xxx
Yyy
Zzz
Reg_da
03/27/89
03/27/89
02/15/93
06/07/03
The vendor can choose to store the repeated notifications or simply not insert rows that match
all the fields of an existing row. If the BOE staff sees the list of duplicate voters sorted by the
DUP ID field, it should be obvious if the same ID shows up more than once. This is not a
problem and it will save time.
After working on this duplicate, there are only three possible outcomes:
1. Voter “A” is the same as another voter and your BOE registration is the older, out-ofdate registration. (Whether in the same county or not.)
2. Voter “A” is the same as another voter and your BOE registration is the newer, more
current registration. (Whether in the same county or not.)
3. Voter “A” is not the same as another voter. (Whether in the same county or not.)
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BUSINESS PROCEDURES MANUAL
Given these possible scenarios, here is how you resolve each duplicate in the SOS SWVRD:
Scenario 1
A. Merge your voter into the other BOEs voter record where the SOS voter ID is “B”
(the ID of the voter that is being kept) and the MERGE ID is “A” (the older ID).
B. When the merge is systematically acknowledged, the “DUP RESOLUTION” flag is
cleared for voter “A,” the duplicate rows for “A” are cleared and record “A” is
“removed.” You may then update the state voter ID to “B.”
C. Contact the BOE under whose voter you merged “A” and let them know you have
completed the responsibilities on your side.
Final State:
Voter Table
State Voter ID
B
Voter_Status
REMOVED
Duplicate Table
Primary_id
Dup_id
Dup_Resolution_flag BMV_Confirmation_flag
N
Y
County_co
Boe_id
Reg_da
Scenario 2
A. When the merging BOE contacts you to inform you that they have completed the
merge, your BOE needs to send an update transaction to change the voter status to
“active,” clear the “DUP RESOLUTION” flag and clear the duplicate table rows for
the voter after receiving a positive acknowledgement.
Final State:
Voter Table
State Voter ID
A
Voter_Status
ACTIVE
Duplicate Table
Primary_id
Dup_id
Dup_Resolution_flag BMV_Confirmation_flag
N
Y
County_co
Boe_id
Reg_da
Scenario 3
B. Generate an “update” transaction for the voter and place one or more of the other
state IDs that have been confirmed not to be duplicates into the “Exclude
Duplicates” list of that update. Clear the “DUP RESOLUTION” flag and the
duplicate table after receiving the positive acknowledgement.
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BUSINESS PROCEDURES MANUAL
Final State:
Voter Table
State Voter ID Voter_Status
A
ACTIVE
Duplicate Table
Primary_id
Dup_id
Dup_Resolution_flag BMV_Confirmation_flag
N
Y
County_co
Boe_id
Reg_da
In scenario two and three, if there are additional duplicates that are not handled by the
merge or the update with “Exclude Duplicates,” the SOS SWVRD will re-identify those
duplicates and send them again. For instance, in the example given above, if BOE 01
identified voter B, C and D as not duplicates with A in an update, then these would not be
reported again to the BOE. If on the other hand, they identified only Voter B as not being a
duplicate, then their tables would look like this after the update:
Voter Table
State Voter ID Voter_Status
A
ACTIVE
Duplicate Table
Primary_id
Dup_id
Dup_Resolution_flag BMV_Confirmation_flag
N
Y
County_co
Boe_id
Reg_da
Some time later, the SOS SWVRD would resend one or more duplicate notification
messages identifying Voters C and D so the tables would look like this:
Voter Table
State Voter Id
A
Voter_Status
ACTIVE
Duplicate Table
Primary_id
Dup_id
A
C
A
D
Dup_Resolution_flag BMV_Confirmation_flag
Y
Y
County_co
01
05
Boe_id
Yyy
Zzz
Reg_da
02/15/93
06/07/03
The duplicate resolution process starts again for this voter with Voter C and D.
There is no need for the BOE staff to track the transaction numbers of the duplicate messages
other than to systematically acknowledge them.
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BUSINESS PROCEDURES MANUAL
VII. APPENDIX B – Third-Party Access Control Policy
I.
Purpose:
This policy is to establish requirements for third parties granted access to election
information systems, including voter registration systems and election management
and administration systems, at a county board of elections.
II.
Policies:
A. The director shall authorize in advance, all third-party election information
custodians and users, access to election information systems via real-time
computer connections (such as direct online use, dial-up modems, the intranets
and extranets). Examples of third-party election information custodians and
users includes, but is not limited to, state and county information services
staff, consultants working on special projects, voting system vendors, voter
registration system vendors, and commercial printers.
B. The director must limit the release of election information to a third party to
the topics directly related to the involved program or business relationship.
Release of any individually identifiable voter information must also be in
compliance with Ohio public records, election and information privacy laws.
C. The director shall enable access privileges for third parties only for the time
period required to accomplish previously defined and approved tasks.
D. For record keeping purposes, the director or his / her designee shall provide
the Ohio secretary of state with a copy of all third-party access authorization
documentation. Please send to:
Statewide Voter Database Coordinator
Office of Ohio Secretary of State
180 E. Broad Street, 15th floor
Columbus, Ohio 43215
E. Election management system servers will not be connected to any internal or
external online Internet connection.
F. The director will maintain a current and accurate list of all third-party
individuals who have authorized access to any election information systems
under her or his control via real-time computer connections. This
documentation will contain at least:
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1.
The name of the third-party;
2.
The system and applications to which the third-party
user has access;
3.
The user ID through which the third-party will access the
system;
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BUSINESS PROCEDURES MANUAL
4.
The date on which the director granted the access; and
5.
The date (if any) on which the authorized access will
automatically terminate.
G. As a condition for gaining access to the election information systems and
networks, every third-party must secure its own connected systems in a
manner consistent with the election office's information security policies,
procedures, and standards. If relevant, written contracts or agreements with
third-parties must state this requirement.
H. The director must terminate business relations with third-party organizations
found not to meet basic information security requirements.
I. Third parties must return or destroy all information disclosed to them by the
election office upon termination of the relationship between the third-party
and the election office. If relevant, written contracts or agreements with third
parties must state this requirement.
J. Directors must include in all contracts with third parties who might have
access to any election information system, a statement that the third-party
agrees to use that access in compliance with all federal laws, Ohio state laws
and regulations, and the secretary of state's directives and policies regarding
the privacy and security of public and confidential information under their
control.
K. Third-party personnel must sign an appropriate confidentiality agreement
stating they will not divulge system information before being granted access
privileges.
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BUSINESS PROCEDURES MANUAL
Sample of a Third Party Access Roster
Name of Third Party
System to
Which Access
Granted
User ID Used
to Access
System
Date
Access
Granted
Date
Access
Will
Terminate
Today’s
Date
Director / DEP
Director
Granting
Access
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
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