How to

Continue the FVRS-Initiated Removal of Felons

Felon match records initiated by the State appear in the Eligibility Match Queue under the type NFEL. Once a match record appears in the queue, the Supervisor's office must assume responsibility for processing the voter's removal from the voter registration rolls. The Supervisor has seven days from the date shown in the Match Date field in the Eligibility Match Queue to continue with the removal process initiated by FVRS.

When the State creates a felon match record, a Notice of Potential Ineligibility is scheduled for the voter in the Notices Queue. It is the county's responsibility to print the notice and mail it to the voter via certified mail. Printing of the notice starts the clock on the 30-day period the voter has to respond to the notice.

Along with creating the match record and scheduling the notice, the State sends your county a packet of electronic files containing the documentation on the felony conviction. The felon packet will be stored on your system in:

I:\Vr6Sharedbinaries\Felon Files\<potential felon's voter ID>

Note  Felon packets should not be moved from the folder cited above. You can copy the packets to a different location, if you wish, but the originals should remain in the folder where they were initially placed by the State.

Typically, the county will send all or a portion of the felon packet to the voter along with the Notice of Potential Ineligibility. Some counties send only the conviction pages of the felony documentation along with the Notice of Potential Ineligibility and instructions on applying for clemency.

IMPORTANT   If your county has already received a felon packet from the courts, prior to any processing of the NFEL match record, you should notify the BVRS that you have potential ineligibility information for the voter. The State will then cancel their NFEL match record so that your county can initiate eligibility-maintenance on the voter from the county side. But if you have not received felony information from the courts, then proceed with processing the FVRS-initiated match as described below.

To continue with processing of a felon match initiated by the State:

1. Go to PRINTING > Notices Queue.

2. In the list of scheduled notices, highlight the notice type (either FVRS Felon Notice of Potential Ineligibility) scheduled for the voter by FVRS. Click Print Selected Notice Type.

3. On the Select Precincts dialog, click OK. You'll see the message Activating Word Mail Merge. Please wait... at the bottom of the Notices dialog.

4. If the document layout for the notice doesn't specify a printer, you will be asked to select the printer. Click OK to print the notice.

5. Verify that the notice printed correctly and then click Update to record in the voter's record that the notice was sent. The update operation starts the 30-day period that the voter has to respond.

6. Mail the notice to the voter using the certified return-receipt service. The voter will have 30 days to respond to the notice.

Note  Your county's procedures might also call for inclusion of supporting documentation, such as all or part of a felon packet, with the notice. Some counties send the voter only the conviction/adjudication pages of the felon/mental incapacity documentation along with the Notice of Potential Ineligibility and instructions on applying for clemency.

7. When the certified-mail delivery notice is returned to your office, record receipt of the delivery notice by returning to the Eligibility Maint tab in the voter's record and clicking the match record to bring up the Eligibility Maintenance Item dialog. Then click Certified Receipt Received. You'll see the message: Voter's match status will be updated to Certified Receipt Received. Do you want to continue? Click OK to update the voter's record. The Current Status on the Eligibility Maint tab will be updated to Certified Receipt Received.

Note  It is possible, though unlikely, to receive a certified delivery receipt and then to later have the notice returned by the USPS as undeliverable. If this happens, you will need to contact VR Systems to adjust the match record, because the eligibility maintenance program does not allow for this scenario.

At this point, you must wait until one of the following occurs:

• The notice of potential ineligibility is returned by the USPS...(more)

• The voter fails to respond within 30 days...(more)

• The voter responds to the mail or newspaper notice within 30 days:

You will need to record the response by returning to the Eligibility Maint tab in the voter's record and clicking the match record to bring up the Eligibility Maintenance Item dialog. Then click the button in the Response to Notice box that corresponds to the type of response: