I was under the impression that the application and policy revisions were being conducted by a workgroup that included General Registrars (GR). I apologize for my misunderstanding. Ivory Tower comes to mind. No experienced and practicing (feet on the ground) GR would willingly accept these changes. I didn't expect that the result would be to obfuscate, rather than simplify, the form and process. What I did, and still do, expect are rational changes that make both registration and processing easier. Please go back to the design phase and get some professional input from the people that have to make this work.

Form:

   > Will require filing system modifications throughout all localities (unfunded mandate)

   > Makes compliance with other state notification laborious

   > Will require many additional processing hours (unfunded mandate) during our busiest season

   > Does not make the form any easier to understand

   > Will not result in fewer form completion or processing errors

Policy:

From Virginia Election Law:

§ 24.2-418. Application for registration.

The form of the application to register shall require the applicant to provide the following information: full name; gender; date of birth; social security number, if any; whether the applicant is presently a United States citizen; address of residence in the precinct; place of last previous registration to vote; and whether the applicant has ever been adjudicated incapacitated or convicted of a felony, and if so, under what circumstances the applicant's right to vote has been restored.

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Just because you don’t agree with a law doesn’t mean that you can write policy to eliminate it. I can ALMOSTaccept that if the voter registration requirements are prominently and clearly stated that a signature might legally suffice for the pre-requisites. However, some of the other omissions designated as immaterial (full name, gender, and ssn) seem to be in conflict with law since the law states SHALL, not “Well, only if you want to provide the information.” These changes would require a change in code, not a change in agency policy.

If these changes move forward, please include a statement that previous versions of the application may still be accepted – then ship me 500 cases, which just might see me (and my Senior Assistant GRs) through to retirement.

Otherwise, No!