Brennan Center for Justice

Louisiana currently has the Online Registration component of Voter Registration Modernization in place.

The excerpt below was adapted from an appendix to the 2010 report Voter Registration in a Digital Age.

Background
At the suggestion of the Office of the Secretary of State, the Louisiana Legislature authorized online voter registration in a bill signed by Governor Bobby Jindal in June 2009. The new system went live on April 1, 2010. Officials did not officially announce the program and as of August 2010 it had not seen substantial use by the public, but initial feedback has been positive.

State officials worked with contractors to develop the system over the course of approximately nine months. According to Chrissie Weatherford, the Secretary of State office's IT Director, the development process was fairly straightforward, and in fact could have been completed sooner. There have been no technical problems with the system since its introduction.

About a year ago the Office of Motor Vehicles (OMV) also began making limited data transfers to election officials. When an OMV customer is interested in voter registration, basic personal information is now sent electronically and used to partially populate a registration file. However, the applicant must still sign a paper form where she also includes information specific to the registration process, such as party preference. Parish officials will receive this form in the mail and use it to complete the registration file.

Outcomes
Commissioner of Elections Angie LaPlace anticipates that, by reducing the amount of data entry required of local election officials, the online system will reduce the potential for data entry errors, and will also help relieve some of the burden placed on these officials during the busy period before elections.

In the Orleans Parish Registrar of Voter’s office, Assistant Chief Deputy Rachel Penns estimates that her office can process an electronic registration in the half the time required for a paper form. She notes that online system also saves time for her office by providing registrations that are consistently accurate and complete, and describes the lack of legibility problems, in particular, as "really, really wonderful."

How Online Registration Works in Louisiana
A person who follows an online registration link on the Secretary of State’s website will come to an introductory page that outlines browser requirements and notes that, because the OMV sometime performs system maintenance between 1:00 and 4:00 AM, it may not be possible to complete the registration process online during these hours. The user then proceeds to a page that explains the online process, lists registration eligibility requirements, and requires the user to check boxes to verify that she is eligible.

Continuing to the following page, the user must provide her name, date of birth, and gender, and must indicate whether she has a Louisiana driver’s license or photo ID. Her Social Security number is also requested, though not required. Users with a license or photo ID enter both their card number and a separate card audit code that also appears on their cards. This is intended to block unauthorized access after a person has replaced a driver’s license or ID card, because while a duplicate license or photo ID will bear the same card number as the original, the audit code will be different.

Card numbers and audit codes are checked against OMV records in real time. If an exact match is found, the user will be able to complete her registration online. If a match cannot be made, or if the user does not have a license or ID card, she may continue through the online process described below but at the end will need to print out a pre-populated form, sign it, and mail it in. The data she enters are sent to her parish registrar’s office electronically, but her registration will not be complete until her signature arrives in the mail. Users with verified licenses or photo IDs may also choose to provide a paper signature.

The user proceeds with the online process by entering her residential address (and mailing address, if different), parish of residence, and party affiliation. She may also choose to provide her contact information, race or ethnicity, and information about any prior registration. On a final page she reviews the data provided and may go back to edit it; if everything is accurate, she clicks a button to submit the application. A message then appears to confirm the data have been sent.

After the user submits her data, the online system will retrieve a copy of her digitized signature from the OMV database and upload the data and signature to the statewide voter registration database system. The database system then holds the registration in a queue for review by election officials in the appropriate parish office, who determine whether or not to accept it.

In the past, Louisiana has considered the following VRM-related legislation:

• Election Day Registration. This bill would have allowed for voter registration until and on Election Day. (H.B. 1115 [pdf])
• Election Day Registration. A resolution of the Louisiana House of Representatives would have requested the Secretary of State to develop a plan to change registration and voting requirements and procedures to allow for same-day voter registration. (H.C.R. 54 [pdf])