ERIC TECHNICAL CHECKLIST.PDF

Preparing for ERIC – Technical Checklist
Introduction
There are four major technical efforts involved in joining ERIC:
1. Sending data to ERIC
2. Receiving and processing the Eligible but Unregistered Report
3. Receiving and processing the List Maintenance Reports
4. Reporting Performance Data
While these tasks generally have a natural order, they each have their own associated timeframe and do not
have to be implemented at the same time or sequentially. The first priority is to provide ERIC with data. After
that, the reports to target next will depend on when you join ERIC. The Eligible but Unregistered report (EBU)
must be processed and contact initiated with voters prior to October 1 or fifteen (15) days before the close of
registration, whichever is earlier, in even-numbered Federal election years. List Maintenance reports do not
have a specific timeline, but they must be processed at least once every 425 days. However, states are strongly
encouraged to act on list maintenance reports as frequently as possible to ensure voter lists are kept up to date
throughout the year. Performance data has its own time line, but it is good to keep these data points in mind as
you develop any new processes for using ERIC.
Sending Data to ERIC
States provide data to ERIC in an XML-formatted ASCII text file. The state produces the file in the specified ERIC
format, then processes the file through the client-side Anonymization program provided by ERIC which applies a
one-way hash to the sensitive data fields: date of birth, driver's license number, and last four digits of the SSN.
The resulting anonymized file is transmitted to ERIC through an sFTP site provided by ERIC.
Once all parties agree that data is ready to be loaded into production, the state will prepare an initial data file
and ERIC staff will validate and load the data. Data must be provided to ERIC every 60 days and may be provided
monthly.
NOTE: When state data has been loaded into the Production environment, your state data will appear on the
Cross-State report for other states even if you are not receiving reports yet.
High-level tasks:
 Review ERIC data format documentation
 Understand ERIC Activity Date concept
 DMV (or other) data sources:
o Evaluate data availability and quality (use DMV Checklist)
o Determine if address and contact information can be shared with other ERIC members
o Determine if citizenship information is collected – known non-citizens should not be sent to ERIC
o Determine if the unique identifier of each record is information that can be shared in plain text,
if not determine how to generate a safe identifier.
o Discuss what records are considered current and active and determine if that correlates with
your voter registration qualifications
o Discuss Activity Date concept
 Obtain and install ERIC client-side Anonymization application
 Obtain ERIC sFTP credentials from ERIC staff
 Prepare and send sample data
Electronic Registration Information Center, Inc. Page 1 of 4
New States Checklist – Technical Considerations, September 2017

 Work with ERIC staff to validate and refine data files
 Confirm that confidential and protected records have been omitted from all data files
 Determine frequency – monthly or every two months – and timing
 Evaluate automation
 Send initial production data files
 Schedule subsequent data files
Eligible but Unregistered Report
The Eligible but Unregistered report returns all active DMV records that do not have a corresponding voter
record in your state. The intent is to provide a list of people who are not currently registered so that they can be
contacted with information on how to register. All ERIC reports are provided in a tab-delimited ASCII text file.
Once prepared, reports are placed on the ERIC sFTP site for state staff to download. The first report will be the
largest as it will evaluate all DMV records that are available. Potential voters are not repeated on subsequent
reports, so after the first time, reports are more reflective of life activities such as moving to your state or
becoming old enough to be eligible. Subsequent reports are, therefore, significantly smaller.
NOTE: ERIC staff will coordinate the timing of producing the Eligible but Unregistered report with state staff.
Once produced, the state has 90 days to make contact with the applicable potential voters.
High-level tasks:
 Review ERIC report documentation
 Review sample report data
 Determine with policy staff how potential voters will be contacted:
o Are email addresses available in the DMV data?
o Will state or local election officials make contact?
 If local election officials will make the contact, determine how data be distributed to them
 If the state is making the contact, determine mailing process and if used, prepare mailing vendor
 Determine your translation needs, especially if you have Section 203 obligations.
 Design mailings
 Determine if ERIC data should be further filtered. For example, does state law prevent people with a
felony conviction from registering, and if so, can they be identified? Does your office keep a list of
people who have specifically asked not to be registered or contacted?
 Are there addresses that need special handling:
o Does the DMV allow residence addresses to be recorded at corrections facilities?
o Addresses where many people have the same address, such as care facilities, KOA campgrounds,
homeless shelters, or college dorms may need extra attention to reach the intended person.
 Determine how the Possibly Deceased flag will be handled. This flag identifies records that also appear
on the Social Security Death Master list.
 Determine how to monitor the progress and evaluate the success of the mailings
 Determine if potential voters will be directed to a specific registration method and if that use will be
tracked
 Determine if information that is not sent to ERIC will be needed for mailings or evaluation, and if so,
how to manage merging a large record set. For example, ERIC does not receive the date of birth in clear
text, so in order to produce age-specific mailings or age demographic statistics, the records sent from
ERIC would need to be merged with the original, clear text data.
 Determine if there are grants available for mailing costs
 Determine if any current studies would be applicable
Electronic Registration Information Center, Inc. Page 2 of 4
New States Checklist – Technical Considerations, September 2017

List Maintenance Reports
The list maintenance collection of reports focus on providing information that leads to accurate voter rolls:
In-state Movers Report DMV or other in-state record indicates newer contact information
In-state Duplicates Report Indicates a match between two voter records in your state
Cross-state Movers Report A newer voter, DMV or other state record has been found for your voter,
implying that the voter may no longer live in your state
Deceased Report Voter has a matching record on the Social Security Death Master list
All ERIC reports are provided in a tab-delimited ASCII text file. Once prepared, reports are placed on the ERIC
sFTP site for state staff to download. The first iteration of each report will be the largest as it will evaluate all
records. Matches are not repeated on subsequent reports, so these reports are more reflective of life activities
such as moving.
NOTE: ERIC staff will coordinate the timing of producing reports with state staff. Once produced, the state has
90 days to make contact with the applicable voters on the In-State Updates or Cross-State reports.
High-level tasks:
 Review ERIC report documentation
 Review sample report data
 Determine with policy staff how potential voters will be contacted:
o Are email addresses available?
o Will state or local election officials make contact?
 If local election officials will make the contact, determine how data be distributed to them
 If the state is making the contact, determine mailing process and if used, prepare mailing vendor
 Review if existing processes could be used or modified to review or handle the information. For
example, many states already process lists of potentially duplicate or deceased voters.
 Determine your translation needs, especially if you have Section 203 obligations.
 Design mailings
 Determine how the Possibly Deceased flag will be handled. This flag identifies records that also appear
on the Social Security Death Master list.
 Determine how to monitor the progress and evaluate the success of any mailings
 Determine if there are grants available for mailing costs
 Determine if any current studies would be applicable
 Determine if there are addresses that need special handling in the In-State Updates report:
o Does the DMV allow residence addresses to be recorded at corrections or mailing facilities?
o Addresses where many people have the same address, such as care facilities, KOA campgrounds,
homeless shelters, or college dorms may need extra attention to reach the intended person.
Electronic Registration Information Center, Inc. Page 3 of 4
New States Checklist – Technical Considerations, September 2017

Performance Data
The ERIC membership agreement includes a list of data points to be sent to ERIC on a regular basis. The intent
of this data is to be able to quantify the improvements members are able to achieve through ERIC membership.
Applicable data points are collected for the first time prior to acting on ERIC data in order to establish a baseline.
After that, the full set of performance data points will be collected and analyzed over time to evaluate ERIC's
performance.
High-level tasks:
 Review ERIC performance data points in Exhibit C of the ERIC Membership Agreement
 Determine which data points are available and how to collect them
 Determine if any data points will need to be tracked and collected from local elections officials
 Gather baseline data (template will be provided)
 As new processes are developed for ERIC reports, incorporate the means to track performance data, if
applicable. For example, if a new web page is created for potentially eligible voters to register, tracking
statistics could be incorporated into the initial design.
Electronic Registration Information Center, Inc. Page 4 of 4
New States Checklist – Technical Considerations, September 2017