Scan Application Forms and Other Documents

This topic explains how to create and store digital images of voter registration applications and other paper documents. These digital images are created by scanning the paper document with a scanner machine connected to a workstation where the user is running Voter Registration > Scan Documents. Once an image has been scanned, it can then be linked to a voter's record via the indexing process.

Documents are usually scanned in a batch of similar documents. For example, a batch might consist of voter registration applications. All documents in a batch share the same communication type, which is assigned at scan time, so you should not mix different types of documents in a batch.

About Scanning and Indexing of Application Forms and Other Documents gives an overview of both scanning and indexing.

  1. Verify that a scanner machine is connected to your computer and is turned on. Some scanners must be turned on before the computer is turned on, so if you have problems connecting to the scanner, power down both machines. Then power-up the scanner first, before you power-up the computer.
  2. Place the batch of forms into the scanner infeed with the top of each document going into the scanner first. You will be able to rotate an improperly oriented image later if you need to, but it saves time if all documents are facing the same way.

Some scanners will pick up the first document and pause until you click Scan in step 5, below.

  1. Go to VOTER REGISTRATION > Scan Documents.
  1. On the Select Image Batch dialog, you can create a new batch to hold the documents you are about to scan or you can scan them into an existing batch (provided that the existing batch is assigned to your user name).

Highlight the batch in the Existing Batch list and click Scan.

  1. In the Batch Number field, enter a number between 1 and 999 that is not displayed in the Existing Batches list.
  2. In the Communication Type field, select the code appropriate for the documents you are about to scan. If you are scanning voter registration forms, the correct code is C, Scanned Front of Card Img.

When scanning application forms for new voters, it is important that you choose C, Scanned Front of Card Img as the communication type. This will ensure that the voter's signature and application form images are sent to FVRS at the time they are indexed to the voter's record. It is equally important to avoid using C, Scanned Front of Card Img when scanning other types of documents, which should not be sent to FVRS.

  1. The User Name field defaults to the operator ID of the user logged on to the computer. If you want to use a different name for this scanning session, enter it now.
  2. Select Display Scanner Settings if you want to see the native settings dialog for your scanner when you add images to an existing batch on the Scanning Progress dialog. (The native dialog always appears when you first start scanning images into a new batch.) Most settings for your scanner should need no adjustment after they are set by VR Systems technicians. But depending on the type of documents you are scanning, you might find that you need to tweak the settings.

If you are scanning voter registration forms—which will be sent to FVRS and are therefore subject to the State's 200 KB limit on image files—you should verify that the scanner's black-and-white option is selected.

Note:  For some communication types, the Display Scanner Settings option is selected by default, but you can turn it off if you are satisfied with the scanner settings for those communication types.
  1. Comment is an optional field where you can enter text that will be displayed during indexing of the scanned image to the voter's record.
  1. On the Scanning Progress dialog, click Scan.

The scanner's native dialog will appear and you can adjust the scanner setup and continue.

The scanner will select and scan the documents one-by-one. When the last document has been scanned, the Scanning Progress dialog will display the last-scanned document.

  1. Review the scanned image to verify it is neither too dark nor too light and that the signature is fully and legibly scanned. Use the arrow keys to page through the images, verifying there is a good scan of each one.

    2. If you find a bad image, take these steps to rescan it:

    1. With the bad scan displayed, click Delete this Image.
    2. Pull the paper document from the batch and insert it into the scanner infeed.
    3. Continue scrolling through the images, repeating steps a–b when necessary until you have checked all the images in this batch.
    4. Click Scan More Pages. The scanner will rescan the document(s) and display the last new scan in the Scanning Progress dialog.
    5. Remove the document(s) from the outfeed area and place them at the back of the batch of paper documents.
    6. Check the rescanned image(s) and rescan any that are not acceptable.

  2. Bundle the scanned paper documents from this batch together. If your county does not use the Scan First feature, it’s important to keep the paper documents in the same order as they were scanned, because you’ll refer to them again when you index the scanned images to voter records.
  3. If your county uses the Scan First feature:

Click Release Batch. This adds the batch to the list of existing batches on the Select Image Batch dialog, inserts a Y in the Released column, and makes the batch available to users who are processing applications. Once a batch has been released, images cannot be added or removed.

  1. If your county does not use Scan First, click Close to add the batch to the list of existing batches on the Select Image Batch dialog.