Last Update: January 25, 2016

Dialog Help

Petition Verification

To access:  PETITION > Verify Signatures > {voter}

Before you verify petition signatures, you will need to focus on a petition. See How to Change Petition Focus for instructions.

When verifying a petition signature, you are first asked to select a voter. Then you will see the Petition Verification dialog. See How to Verify Petition Signatures for more information.

Fields and Controls on this Dialog

Find

Allows you to easily access the Find a Voter dialog to conduct a new voter search.

Save

Save the verification/rejection of this voter's signature.

Prior and Next

If your search for the voter returned a list of possible voters and you selected one from the list, these icons will be enabled and you can use them to scroll through the voters returned by the search.

Show Voter Audit

Clicking this button brings a view of the Audit tab in the voter's record.

Voters

Opens the voter's record so you can see more information about the voter if needed.

Petition

The petition ID of the petition you are currently working with. This ID is displayed as part of batch identification and on petition reports.

Batch

The batch number of the petition you are currently working with.

Petition Name

The name of the petition you are currently working with.

Open Date

The date the petition you are currently working with was opened.

Voter Information

The voter's name, current address on file, birthdate, precinct, and last activity date.

Registration Date

The voter's registration date.

Candidate File Date

If the petition is focus is a candidate petition, a filing date may have been entered. During the signature-verification process, Voter Focus compares the date the petition was signed with the filing date. Any petition signed before the filing date will be rejected.

See About Candidate Petition Filing Dates for more information.

Signature

The signatures shown include all signatures available for the voter on the Doc Images tab in the voter's record, including HSMV images. You can use the signature-browse buttons to see other signatures by the same voter.

If there is more than one signature for the voter, use these buttons to move through the different images:

  

The most recent image is displayed by default. The date when the image was captured is shown in Scan Date.

If you cannot see the signature clearly in the signature box, click View Image to see the whole document from which the signature is being taken. You can also correct the location of the signature if necessary.

Signed

The date when the voter signed the petition. To have this date reappear for the next voter, select Remember.

Received

The date when the petition was received in your office. To have this date reappear for the next voter, select Remember.

Save Signature

Records the voter's signature as verified (whether accepted or rejected) and closes the dialog.

Reject Reason

For active voters whose signatures have not been verified yet, this field defaults to ACCEPTED.

If you are rejecting the voter's petition, select the reason from the drop-down list.

About Petition Signature Verification Rejection Reasons

Enter address if the voter DID NOT CHECK address change box

If the address change box on the petition is not checked, enter the address in the fields provided here.

Note  Not all petitions have address-change boxes.

An entry here does not change the voter's residence address. Instead, it schedules a Petition Address Change notice to this address along with a voter registration form. The letter will inform the voter that the address could not be changed and ask them to complete the registration form and return it to the elections office so that an address change can be properly made.

You should accept or reject the signature based on the voter's residence address on file, not the address entered here.

How to Process an Address Change on a Petition

Authorized Address Change

If you receive a petition with an address different from the residence address on file and the voter checked the address-change box on the petition, click Authorized Address Change to change their residence address on their registration record. This will schedule them for a voter information card.

If the address-change box on the petition is not checked, do not proceed with an authorized address change. Instead, enter the address on the petition in the area labeled Enter address if the voter DID NOT CHECK address change box.

When doing petition verification with an authorized address change, you should process the change of address before considering whether to verify the voter's signature because the change of address might affect their eligibility to sign the petition.

How to Process an Address Change on a Petition

Last Action on this Petition for this Voter

Appears only when the voter's petition has already been accepted or rejected. It displays the current disposition of the petition, the reason if rejected, the date/time when the disposition was determined, and the batch number.

Undo

Appears only when the voter's petition has already been accepted or rejected within the last 25 hours and the batch has not yet been certified. It allows you to undo the disposition—either acceptance or rejection—of a voter's signature on a petition.

After 24 hours, the Undo button is no longer visible. If you want to undo the disposition after the 24-hour period, use the Undo_Verification utility.

Should you need to undo a large number of signature verifications for a petition, contact VR Systems.