ESTABLISHING DISTRICTS FOR A NEW ENTITY ELECTION

1. ESTABLISHING DISTRICTSFOR A NEW ENTITY ELECTION

2. A local entity is having an election and has requested a list of voters in their territory, but they are not currently a jurisdiction in my system. How should I handle this? In order to provide the information, the entity should provide the registrar with a map or list detailing their boundary lines. You will need to establish the district type in TEAM and assign all street ranges to the district that are appropriate in your system. You can then run a registered voters list for the local entity or an OLRV as appropriate. NOTE: You are responsible for providing a list of voters within boundary lines; however, public information deadlines do not apply to such a request. We recommend that you work with the entity to provide the list in the timeframe needed. (Sec. 18.006). Texas Secretary of State Elections Division

3. If I provide the entity with a list of registered voters, do I also need to provide them with an OLRV? If the entity is conducting an election using that list, then yes. The OLRV is the official list for every election being held within a jurisdiction. A registered voters list may be used as a stop gap measure to help the entity gauge how many people may be eligible to vote in an election, but it should not be used in place of the OLRV. Texas Secretary of State Elections Division

4. What do you need from the Entity? • Texas Election Code 18.001 (b) • The request…must be accompanied by a description or map…in sufficient detailto enable the registrar to prepare the requested lists. The request must be delivered early enough to afford the registrar reasonable time to prepare timely lists.

5. When to provide the Official List? • TEXAS ELECTION CODE 18.006. • The registrar shall deliver the lists… • in time for receipt before the beginning of early voting by mail… • before the beginning of early voting by personal appearance. … • as soon as practicable after the registrar has processed the remaining applications.

6. How do you identify eligible voters? OLRV Logic: • The OLRV report will produce only those voters coded with the district(s) assigned to the election in question. • The OLRV report will produce only those Active and Suspense voters with an appropriate EDR date [of those coded with the district(s) assigned to the election]. Texas Secretary of State Elections Division

7. The OLRV report will show only those voter details with a ‘Valid From’ Date equal to or earlier than the Election Day date. Changes made to a voter record, for example their name, address, etc., that result in a valid from date that is greater than the date of the election should NOT be shown. The voter is still on the OLRV, but with details determined by the Valid From Date.

8. The territory provided me a list of people impacted by their establishment. Not all of these are registered voters. How do I handle this? The voter registrar is responsible for providing an OLRV (current registered voters eligible to vote in the election) for a jurisdiction. This list will only be those voters who are eligible to vote in an election based on the date of the election and the date their registration becomes effective in the county/territory. There is no authority for a voter registrar to enter individuals into the statewide system in order to return a single list back to the entity. Rather, the registrar should only establish the jurisdiction and provide an OLRV for the entity. Texas Secretary of State Elections Division

9. Can non-registered persons vote?(even if they are living in the territory covered by the Election) No • Per Section 11.001(a), in order to be eligible to vote in an election a person must be both: • A registered voter within the territory, whose registration is effective as of election day; AND • A resident of the territory covered by the election. • A voter who does not appear to be a registered voter and/or resident of a district may vote a provisional ballot. • You may add the individual’s house number to the street index for the district, even if that individual is not currently eligible to vote due to not being registered to vote in the territory.

10. What is a ‘reasonable amount of time’ to fully create the District? • TEXAS ELECTION CODE 18.001 (b). ORIGINAL LIST OF REGISTERED VOTERS - …The request must be delivered early enough to afford the registrar reasonable time to prepare timely lists.

11. TEXAS ELECTION CODE 18.006. DELIVERY OF LISTS TO ELECTION AUTHORITIES - The registrar shall deliver the lists … to the appropriate authority as soon as practicable after the request…

12. WITH ESTIMATED LIST OF STREETS & RANGES WITH FULL LIST OF STREETS & RANGES You can give a ROUGH estimate of man-hours needed If you MAY have enough time to create the District, establish a dead-line for receiving a full/marked list. You can better determine the man-hours needed to do the work. Providing an Official List is the voter registrar’s duty per the Texas Election Code. Therefore, you cannot charge for your time.

13. What if there’s not enough time? • Inform the Entity that their list will: • Be an INTERIM OFFICIAL LIST of voters showing their county voting precinct, • Cover the full area of the Entity’s district • Contain some voters not in their district as well. (Give them a copy of the marked list they delivered to you, so that they may identify eligible voters on the list).

14. If the Entity covers portions of all precincts: • You must give a full-county list • For this example, Associate all Commissioners, or all JPs, etc. When creating the Entity’s election, associate the combination of districts that will cover the affected area

15. If it covers portions only some precincts: • You can give a list of affected precincts • For this example, Associate 2 Commissioners, or 2 JPs, etc. When creating the Entity’s election, associate the combination of districts that will cover the affected area

16. What happens if the territory is in multiple counties? For jurisdictions in which an entity needs an OLRV, but the territory crosses county lines, then each county will need to provide the OLRV for the portion of voters that fall within their county. If the entity has contracted with a county to conduct the election, the OLRV from the other county will still need to be obtained in order to have a complete list of voters. Each county, then, would need to establish the election in order to produce the OLRV for the voters in their county. NOTE: Voting history is not required to be reported for local elections. Each county, then, may choose to append or not to append the history on the back end. (sec. 18.069)

17. What if the Entity does NOTend up as a legal District? • Save the information in your file drawer. • If you had not yet created the district, there is no need to do so now. • If you did create the district and code streets, there is no need to DELETE the information, but ensure it does not get printed on your voter registration certificates.

18. What if the Entity DOES end up asa legal District? • Save the information in your file drawer. • You now have the ability to associate that district to its own election, creating a complete, narrowed list for any of its future elections. • You can even run periodic lists for them specific to their Entity from time to time by selecting the district for a ‘Voter List’

19. What if you DO have enough time? • Begin the work of coding your streets. • Again, you cannot charge for the time it takes to code the street index.

20. OFFLINE COUNTIES There is no need to ‘create’ your entity’s district before submitting voters. Our system will accept/create whatever district name you tack-on to your voter records, as long as you have already assigned the DISTRICT TYPE in TEAM to your county. ONLINE COUNTIES If you don’t have a district code for the entity, create the code and a description under your selected District Type, then click on the Add button.

21. THANK YOU