Generate Precinct Registers and Supplements

Before generating your precinct registers for an election, verify that the following tasks have been done:

• Ballot Styles—Define all ballot styles for the election and assign them to the voting precincts. See Set Up Ballot Styles for an Election for instructions.
• Combined Precincts—If you plan to combine multiple precincts within a single precinct register, define the combined precincts. See Combine Precincts in a Single Precinct Register for instructions.
• Separate Precinct Splits—If you want to generate separate registers for one or more precinct splits within a precinct, set up the separate register(s). See Set Up a Separate Precinct Register for a Precinct Split for instructions.
• Multiple Books—If you want Voter Focus to divide a precinct register into multiple books, set this up for the precincts where you want this to occur. See Divide a Precinct Register into Multiple Books for instructions.
• Combine/Separate Parties—If the election is a primary, decide whether you want to generate separate registers for each party or combine all voters in one precinct register. Select the system option Party Registers Are Combined in Primary Elections if you want to combine the parties in a single register. Be sure this option is not selected if you want to generate separate registers for each party. Note that this is a county-wide choice; you cannot combine parties in some precincts and generate separate party registers in others.
• List Maintenance—Perform the list maintenance activities described in Before Taking Book Closing Totals, and if they have not already been done for this election, do them now.
• Book Closing—Generate book closing totals for the election by following the instructions in Creating the Totals.
• System Options—Several system options affect the generation and appearance of precinct registers. Verify that the options are set up to produce what you want. See VOTER FOCUS ADMIN > System Options > Prec Reg/Elctns > Precinct_Register Options for a description of each option.

Precinct register generation is one of the most resource-intensive programs in Voter Focus. It must be run on a quiet system, when no changes are being made to voter registration data. When you start generation, Voter Focus scans the system for other programs connected to the database. If it finds any, it will ask you to close them.

It's a good idea to create a test version of your precinct registers several weeks before the election to catch any problems that might need adjustment. The easiest way to create a test version is to copy your live database to the Sandbox database and generate the precinct registers from that database. This will allow you to generate the test version at any time without affecting other users on the Voter Focus system.

Precinct registers cannot be cleared and regenerated on election day in the production database. They can, however, be cleared and regenerated in the test databases (Sandbox, Training, and Redistricting).

The Precinct Register Page Count Report is a simple list of the number of register pages for each precinct. It is intended to help you plan the printing of the precinct register, and can be particularly useful if you have several printers and want to apportion the print job among them. Run this report after you generate the precinct registers.