office of the minnesota secretary of state–elections ... · minnesota statutes 201.13 was updated...

Office of the Minnesota Secretary of State–Elections Division

Revised April 2015

ERIC

COA

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Revised April 2015

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Revised April 2015

Table of Contents

Introduction to COA

4

SVRS Process

5

COA Notice Examples

7

COA FAQs

9

SVRS Instructions: COA Express

11

SVRS Instructions COA: Queued for Processing

14

Manual In State and Out of State NCOA Processes

16

SVRS Instructions: Manual NCOA In State

17

SVRS Instructions: Manual NCOA Out of State

19

Returned Mailings: Move Date Examples

21

COA Best Practices

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Revised April 2015

Introduction to COA: NCOA and ERIC

Minnesota Statutes permit the Office of the Secretary of State and County Auditors to use data from approved

sources to update voter records in SVRS. Two approved sources are NCOA (National Change of Address) and ERIC

(Electronic Registration Information Center). Together, they are known as COA or Change of Address.

NCOA The United States Postal Service (USPS) maintains a NCOA (National Change of Address) data base that consists of all

active Official Mail Forwarding Change of Address Orders on file. A forwarding order can be filed with the USPS to

indicate a change of address for an individual, family or business and indicates a temporary or permanent move. The

address change can be to a new address within or outside of Minnesota.

Minnesota Statutes 201.12 and 201.13 were updated in 2008 to allow the Office of the Secretary of State and

County Auditors to use NCOA data from permanent (in‐state or out‐of‐state) individual or family forwarding orders

to update voter records in SVRS. IMPORTANT: No business or temporary move data is used. The only NCOA data

being used in this process is from permanent (in‐state or out‐of‐state) individual or family forwarding orders.

On at least a monthly basis, the OSS sends a voter record data file from SVRS to a certified NCOA vendor for

comparison with permanent (in‐state or out‐of‐state) individual or family forwarding orders filed since the last

comparison. The vendor then returns the results of the comparison, indicating which voter records were an exact

match to active NCOA data on file.

ERIC The Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC) is an organization that assists member states in keeping their

voter rolls accurate and up‐to‐date. Member states submit both Voter Registration and Driver’s License (from DPS)

data to ERIC. (The data does not originate from the Center.) ERIC uses a sophisticated matching program to provide

information back to each state. Data includes in‐state and out‐of‐state updates to voter records. (A voter has

changed their driver’s license or updated their voter registration in Minnesota or another participating state.)

Minnesota Statutes 201.13 was updated in 2014 to permit the Office of the Secretary of State and County Auditors

to use ERIC data to update voter records.

As of 2014, Minnesota is the 12th state to become a member of ERIC. Other member states include: Colorado,

Connecticut, Delaware, Louisiana, Maryland, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Virginia, Washington, and Washington DC.

On a monthly basis, the OSS sends Voter Registration and Driver’s License data to ERIC. ERIC then returns the results

of the matching program, indicating which voter records have updated address information.

NCOA and ERIC data, (known together as COA or ‘change of address’) is loaded into SVRS through the COA Express

queue and Pending Applications>>Source COA Queued for Processing.

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Revised April 2015

SVRS Process

Queueing Records/Applications OSS receives separate return files from the NCOA vendor and from ERIC. These files contain the voter record and

corresponding new address for the voter from the NCOA or ERIC data. This COA (Change of Address) data is

discarded when the application date or voter history on the corresponding voter record is more current than the

move date for that record. A change to M.S. 203.13 in 2014 allows the OSS to load data that is both precinctable

(the new address matches an address range in SVRS) and unprecinctable (the new address does not match an

address range in SVRS) for processing by the County Auditor.

The COA Express queue contains NCOA and ERIC in‐state and out‐of‐state change of address records that the system

could precinct. The Pending Applications source “COA: Queued for Processing” contains in‐state NCOA and ERIC

records that could not be precincted. Records in this queue are assigned to the county that has the greatest number

of address ranges for the city and zip code contained in the queued record. (Counties may want to review chronic

repeat addresses in this queue and update addresses ranges.)

In cases when there is an upcoming election, these records must be processed before rosters are printed to ensure

voters are registered at the most current address. No new COA data is loaded into SVRS within 47 days before a

State Primary or State General Election.

Updating SVRS Voter Records COA data for permanent in‐state moves is used to register any matching voter records at their new in‐state address.

Alternatively, COA data for permanent out‐of‐state moves are used to schedule any matching voter records for

inactivation. COA data is used to update an existing voter record. It never adds a totally new voter. After a voter

record is processed using either in‐state or out‐of‐state COA data, the voter is automatically sent a COA notice.

Separate notices are sent depending on whether the voter record was updated using in‐state or out‐of‐state COA

data. The in‐state COA notice is denoted by a green stripe and the out‐of‐state COA notice is yellow in color. (See

Example Notices on page 7.) The voter is given 21 days to inform the County Auditor if their voter record address

should not have been updated. The only exception is when the status of the voter record is Challenged – Felony,

Challenged – Guardianship, Challenged – Citizenship, Challenged – Name Change. Voter records with one of these

statuses are updated through the COA process, but they are not sent COA notices.

Manual COA: Updates The County Auditor will also receive change of address updates outside of SVRS through returned mail which

includes NCOA notification. When a nonforwardable election mailing sent to the voter is returned as undeliverable

with a permanent forwarding address, the County Auditor must manually update a voter record in SVRS. When an

in‐state permanent forwarding address is listed, the voter record is manually updated to the new address on the

returned mailing. When an out‐of‐state permanent forwarding address is listed, the voter record is manually

scheduled for inactivation.

Coordination between counties is required when the permanent forwarding address listed on the returned mailing

is located in a different county within Minnesota. This coordination should be done within 10 days of receiving the

returned mailing. The county initially receiving the returned mailing must scan and email, fax, or mail a copy of the

returned mailing to the county where the new permanent forwarding address is located.

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Revised April 2015

Manual COA: Processing Schedule When a nonforwardable election mailing is returned for a voter with a new permanent forwarding address, and

there is an election scheduled in the voter’s precinct within the next 47 days, the Manual COA update should be

processed within 10 days of either receiving a returned mailing or receiving a copy of a returned mailing from

another county.

If there is not an election scheduled in the voter’s precinct within the next 47 days, the County Auditor may wait for

the next data load to be loaded to SVRS before processing the Manual COA update. (There is a chance that an

electronic COA record may be loaded, eliminating the need for processing the Manual COA update.)

After either an in‐state or out‐of‐state manual update, the voter is sent one of the two COA notices. The notice

depends on whether the record was updated using in‐state or out‐of‐state COA data. The voter is then given 21 days

to inform the County Auditor if their voter record should not have been updated. The only exception is when the

status of the voter record is Challenged‐Felony, Challenged‐Guardianship, Challenged‐Citizenship, Challenged‐Name

Change. Voter records with one of these statuses are updated through the COA process, but they are not sent COA

notices.

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COA NOTICE IN STATE (GREEN STRIPE)

FRONT

BACK

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COA NOTICE OUT OF STATE (YELLOW)

FRONT

BACK

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Revised April 2015

COA FAQs

Who performs the matching between the voter records and the COA data? NCOA Data Source: Only United States Postal Service certified vendors are able to perform matching to NCOA data.

The OSS has contracted with a USPS certified vendor to match voter records to NCOA data.

ERIC Data Source: The matching of Voter Registration and Driver’s License data within and among member states is

performed by the Electronic Registration Information Center.

How often will new COA data be loaded? New COA data will be loaded into SVRS on a monthly basis.

What criteria are used to match voter records to COA data? NCOA Data: The vendor matches on name and address. The address match includes the full, parsed address

including zip code. The name matches are performed in one of two ways depending on whether the forwarding

order is for an individual or for a family move. Name matching for individual moves are based on first name, middle

name, last name, and title. Nickname possibilities are also considered. Name matching for family moves are based

only on last name. In both cases we are only getting NCOA data back from the vendor that is considered a match to

an existing voter record.

ERIC Data: ERIC uses a complex matching system which looks at a variety of criteria (name, DOB, address, etc.) and

assigns it numerical score based on the data that matches. (E.g. Matching Name and Address = 2 points; Matching

Name and DOB = 3 points). States set the minimum matching score that they will accept. Minnesota has set a high

minimum score, meaning that there is ‘high confidence’ in the accuracy of the match. Only data that meets this

standard are loaded into SVRS.

What is the difference between Driver’s License data received through Source ERIC and Source DVS? The MN driver’s license application includes a section where the applicant can indicate they wish to also be

registered to vote. Applications with this indicator marked are transmitted electronically from DPS to the secretary

of state. (M.S. 201.161) This data is then loaded in SVRS and process by counties through the Pending Applications

Source: DVS. Apps from DVS may be for brand new voters or updates to existing voters. These differ from COA

Source: ERIC records. ERIC records are always for an existing voter record, and are the result of a comparison of

Department of Public Safety data and SVRS voter records, where DPS is found to have a more recent record for an

individual. (E.g. a person moved, updated for Driver’s License but did not check the ‘register me’ box on their DL

application, nor did they update their voter registration.)

How do we know the new COA address for a voter record will match what is in our precinct finder? The data files returned from the NCOA vendor and ERIC containing the voter record information and the

corresponding new address information is precincted using the precinct finder before any COA data is loaded into

SVRS. New COA data that can be precincted is queued in COA Express. New COA data that cannot be precincted is

queued in Pending Applications, Source COA: Queued for Processing and is assigned to the county that has the

greatest number of address ranges for the city and zip code contained in the queued record. (Counties may want to

review the chronic repeat addresses within this queue and fix SVRS address ranges so that they will precinct.)

What is used as the Application Date for records processed through the COA process? NCOA Records: The NCOA Move Date is used as the Application Date. This date is only indicated by month and year

without a day. For SVRS purposes, the day of the move will always be considered to be the first day of the month

that the move took place.

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Revised April 2015

ERIC Records: The date used for the SVRS Application date is the last update date to a Minnesota driver’s license.

When are records removed from the COA Express queue? Once new COA data is loaded into SVRS, all new address and corresponding voter record information appears in the

COA Express queue or Pending Applications>>Source COA. A record is removed from the particular queue once it is

processed from that queue or after the corresponding voter record is updated outside of the queue and the

Application Date is more current than the COA move data for that record.

After Election Day, in what order should I process records in the COA Express and Pending Applications queues versus EDRs? EDRs should be processed before processing the records in the COA Express queue or Pending Applications>>

Source COA queue. This helps make sure that voters are registered in the correct sequence/order before records in

the COA queues are processed.

How do I find the Move Date when performing the manual NCOA process? All yellow return labels that list a permanent forwarding address also list the move date. The move date is indicated

with a three‐digit number combination. The first digit is the month of the move and the next two digits are the year

of the move. A later section of this packet provides examples (beginning on page 18) of where the move date is

located on returned nonforwardable mailings.

How should I notify a county after receiving a returned nonforwardable election mailing for a voter with a permanent forwarding address located in their county? A copy of the returned nonforwardable election mailing with a permanent forwarding address should be sent by

email, fax or mail to the county were the new address is located. The county receiving the notification will then use

the new address information to update the voter record. Note: May need to move yellow sticker so as to not cover

any needed data before copying the returned mailing.

How are the COA notices queued and sent to voters? The COA notices are queued and sent in the same manner that PVCs are sent to voters. The COA notices are roughly

the same size as a PVC except that COA specified language is printed on the front and back of the notice.

Would a voter ever be sent both a PVC and a COA notice? No. When a voter record is updated through the COA process, they are sent a COA notice instead of a PVC. The COA

notice informs the voter either that their voter record was updated to the new address listed on their permanent

forwarding order/driver’s license or scheduled for inactivation because their forwarding order/driver’s license

indicates that they have moved outside of Minnesota. In both cases, the voter is informed that they have 21 days to

inform their County Auditor if their voter record should not have been updated.

Are there different in‐state and out‐of‐state COA notices? Yes. One of two COA notices are sent to a voter* depending on whether the voter record was updated to a new in‐

state address or scheduled for inactivation through COA (Source NCOA or ERIC). In‐state COA notices are printed on

white with a green stripe and sent as a nonforwardable mailing. Out‐of‐state COA notices are yellow in color and

are sent as a forwardable mailing. This ensures that the voter receives notification that their voter record in

Minnesota will be inactivated unless the contact the County Auditor within 21 days.

*For voter records a status of Challenged‐Felony, Challenged‐Guardianship, Challenged‐Name Change, or

Challenged‐Citizenship, the voter record is updated, but a COA notice (in‐state or out‐of‐state) is not sent.

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COA (Change of Address) data is loaded into SVRS on an at least monthly basis. The COA

data lists new addresses for individuals who:

have permanent forwarding orders on filewith the United States Postal Service.

(Source: NCOA) -OR-

have updated their driver’s license or voterregistration in MN or another state.

(Source: ERIC).

This new address information is then made available in the COA Express queue to update matching voter records.

Records in the COA Express queue should be processed before performing any manual COA updates and before printing any

rosters.

COA EXPRESS

1. Select COA Express under the VoterRegistration menu.

2. Use the search criteria to select the recordsdisplayed for processing.

The City dropdown list can be set to returnonly records for a specific city.

The Last Name search field can be used tolocate a specific record by the last name onthe voter record.

The # of Records to Return dropdown list canbe set to 10, 25, 50, or 100 depending on thenumber of records that you want to view andprocess at one time.

The In or Out of State dropdown menu can beset to:

All to return records with in state or out of state moves.

In state to only return records with in state address changes into your county.

Out of State to only return out of state moves.

The Family or Individual dropdown menu canbe set to:

All to return records listed as Family or Individual moves.

Family to return only records listed as family moves.

Individual to only return records listed as individual moves.

The Status dropdown list can be set to:

All to return both New and Held records.

New to only return new records that have not been processed or previously marked as Held.

Held to only return records that were previously not processed and marked as Held.

Note: All search criteria can be used in combination to refine search results.

3. Click Search.

4. In the search results, the first line shows thevoter record information and the second lineshows the COA data for that voter record.

5. Uncheck the box to the left of any records thatyou would like to not process and instead have marked as Held.

Note: Records marked as Held are available for review in the queue at a later time. Held records will remain unchecked until you decide to either check and process or reject the records. If searching with status set to All, Held records appear unchecked at the top of the queue.

6. The Reject button can be clicked topermanently remove a record from the COAExpress queue.

If rejecting a record, the system will require you to select a specific reason for rejecting the record.

Note: For example, a record would be rejected if you discover that an individual mistakenly selected Permanent instead of Temporary when filing their address change with the USPS.

7. Click Continue to process the checked records.

8. The COA Final Review Screen will list therecords that will be processed. If ok, clickSubmit. If not, click Back to return to the COAExpress queue.

COA EXPRESS

Rev. 04/02/2014

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9. For an In State move, a voter record will beregistered at the COA address listed on theline below the voter record. A notice will besent to the voter at the new address. The vot-er has 21 days to inform the auditor if theirrecord was updated in error.

See Reversing COA for instructions on how to reverse a COA update to a voter record.

For an Out of State move, a voter record will be scheduled to be inactivated in 21 days. A notice will be sent to the voter at the out of state address. The voter has 21 days to inform the auditor if their record was updated in error.

See Cancelling Inactivation for instructions on how to cancel a scheduled COA out of state inactivation.

For both in state and out of state moves, if the

voter record has a status of challenged-felony,

guardianship, citizenship, or name change, the

voter record is updated but no COA notice is

sent to the voter.

10. Repeat steps for any records remaining in theCOA Express queue.

REVERSING COA UPDATE

The voter is given 21 days to inform the

auditor if their record was updated in error.

The following steps can be used to reverse the

COA update to the voter record.

1. Select Voter Records under the Voter

Registration menu.

2. Search for the voter record.

To do this enter the first three letters of the last

name plus an * into the Last Name Field and

the first three letters of the first name plus an *

into the First Name field.

Note: See the Search Voter Records

instructions on the SVRS User Documentation

page for more information on searching for

voter records in SVRS.

3. Click Search.

4. Review the search results grid for the voter

record.

5. Select the voter record from the search results

grid and click View.

6. Click the Reverse COA button.

7. Select a reason for the reversal from the

Reverse Reason dropdown list.

Note: For example, a voter may contact you

within 21 days to notify you that they

mistakenly selected Permanent instead of

Temporary when filing their forwarding order

with the USPS.

8. Click Submit.

Note: The voter record will be reversed back to

the status, address, and application dates on

the record before the COA update was made.

CANCELLING INACTIVATION

The voter is given 21 days to inform the

auditor if their record should not have

been scheduled for inactivation. The

following steps can be used to cancel a

COA related voter record

inactivation.


Registration menu.


To do this enter the first three letters of the

last name plus an * into the Last Name

field, the first three letters of the first name

plus an * into the First Name field.

3. Click Search.


record.

5. Select the voter record from the search re-

sults grid and click View.

6. Click the Cancel COA button.

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7. Select a reason for the cancellation from the

Cancel Reason dropdown list.

Note: For example, a voter may contact you

within 21 days to notify you that they

mistakenly selected Permanent instead of

Temporary when filing their forwarding order

with the USPS. We only receive COA data for

permanent forwarding orders.

8. Click Submit.

Note: The comment on the voter record

regarding the scheduled inactivation is auto-

matically removed from the record.

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Processing Pending Apps Source: COA

COA (Change of Address) data is loaded into

SVRS on an at least monthly basis. The COA

data lists new addresses for registered voters

who:

have permanent forwarding orders on file

with the United States Postal Service.

(Source: NCOA) -OR-

have updated their driver’s license or

voter registration in MN. (Source: ERIC).

Source: COA Queued for Processing contains

In State NCOA and ERIC records that could

not be precincted by the system.

Records (applications) in the queue are

assigned to the county that has the greatest

number of address ranges for the city and zip

code contained in the queued record.

Records can be reassigned to a different

county as needed.

Tips:

Processing records by city may aid in

more easily identifying pending records

that will need to be reassigned. (E.g.

cross-county cities)

Have Polling Place Finder open when

processing pending records.

Note: The number of Pending COA records

queued is available on the SVRS Homepage un-

der Number of Pending Applications. Counts are

broken out by Source—ERIC and NCOA.

Rev. 04/02/2015

COA IN PENDING APPLICATIONS

1. Select Pending Applications under the Voter

Registration menu.

2. Select COA: Queued for Processing from the

dropdown list.

3. Click Search.

Note: To limit search results to records for a

specific city, select this city from the City

dropdown list and click Search.

4. SVRS will display the record with the oldest

application date and automatically conduct a

search for a matching SVRS voter record.

Notes:

Application data, including the Source (NCOA

or ERIC) is displayed directly below the

Application dropdown list.

To conduct a broader search, remove the DL

number and birthdate and click Search again.

5. Review the potential matches carefully. Select

the matching voter record and compare the

application date on the pending COA record to

the App Date on the voter record.

vs.

6. Click View Voter.

Select the Voting History tab.

Compare the application date on the pending

COA record to the last voting history Election

Date.

vs.

7. If Voter Record App Date or last voting history

Election Date is more current than the pending

COA Application Date, continue to step 8.

If Voter Record App Date or last voting history

Election Date is older than the pending COA

Application Date, skip to step 10.

8. Click Remove from Queue.

9. Complete the Reason for Removal field. Ex.

Older Application Date on COA.

Click Submit. (SVRS will return to the Search

screen.) Repeat Step 4.

10. Click Update Voter.

11. A side by side comparison of the pending COA

record and the existing voter record is dis-

played. Information that will be updated is

highlighted in blue.

12. Click Update Voter from Pending.

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updated in error.

See Reversing COA for instructions on how to

reverse a COA update to a voter record.

REASSIGNING COA RECORDS

In the event that the residence address of a

pending COA record does not fall within your

county, the pending record should be reassigned to

the correct county.

1. Use the Polling Place Finder at

http://pollfinder.sos.state.mn.us to determine

the county where the COA record should be

reassigned.

2. With the desired pending COA record populat-

ed in the Application dropdown list, click

Reassign.

3. Select the

appropriate county from the County dropdown

list.

4. Click Submit.

REVERSING COA UPDATE

The voter is given 21 days to inform the auditor if their record was updated in error. The following steps can be used to reverse the COA update to the voter record.


Registration menu.


Note: See Search Voter Records

instructions in SVRS User Documentation for

more information on conducting voter record

searches.

3. Click Search.


record. Select the appropriate record from the

grid and click View.

5. Click the Reverse COA.

6. Select a reason for the reversal from the

Reverse Reason dropdown list.

Click Submit.

Note: The voter record will be reversed back

to the status, address, and application dates

on the record before the COA update was

made.

13. Because these records were originally

unprecinctable, it may be necessary to

modify the Residential Address in order for

the address to precinct.

For Example,

becomes

Review updated Residential Address section.

Make changes as necessary.

Note: If unsure what modifications are

needed, see Note next step.

14. Click Continue.

Note: When an address is invalid (address

does not fit into your county’s address rang-

es), SVRS will provide a list of streets that

exist in the county that you may select from.

The system may also provide an

alternative address(es) that you can

select.

15. Proof the Final Review screen. If the

information is accurate, click Submit.

If further modifications are necessary, click

Back to return to the Update screen.

16. SVRS will return to the search screen and

display a message confirming a Successful

Update for the voter.

A notice will be automatically sent to the

voter at their new address. The voter has 21

days to inform the auditor if their record was

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Manual In State and Out of State NCOA Processes

County receives nonforwardable elec on mailing returned as undeliverable

Check returned mailing for yellow return s cker with

forwarding address

Elec on mailing returned without

permanent forwarding address

Voter record challenged in SVRS

Voter record challenged, M.S. 201.12, subd. 4

Elec on mailing returned with permanent forwarding address

Review forwarding address, determine if in state or out of

state address

In state forwarding address

Review forwarding address, in state same county or in state out of county

In state forwarding address, same county

Out of state forwarding address

Follow Manual Out of State NCOA instruc ons to schedule the voter

record for inac va on in SVRS

SVRS automa cally sends COA no ce

(unless voter record status is Challenged—Felony, Guardianship,

Name Change or Ci zenship). Voter given 21 days to respond to cancel inac va on of voter

record

Voter responds within 21 days, requests to keep

previous address for voter registra on

Voter responds within 21 days, requests to keep

previous address for voter registra on

No response, SVRS inac vates

voter record a er 21 days

SVRS does not inac vate voter record a er 21 days

Follow Manual In State NCOA instruc ons to update voter record to new address in SVRS

In state forwarding address located in different county

May inac vate voter record in

SVRS

Scan/email, fax or mail copy of

undeliverable elec on returned with

forwarding address along with no ce to update voter record in SVRS to county where forwarding address is located

County where forwarding address is

located follows Manual NCOA instruc ons to update voter record to new address in SVRS

Follow Manual Out of State

instruc ons to cancel

inac va on of voter record in SVRS

SVRS automa cally sends COA no ce

(unless voter record status is Challenged—Felony, Guardianship,

Name Change or Ci zenship). Voter given 21 days to

respond to reverse address back to previous address

No response from voter

Voter record remains set to new address

Follow Manual In State instruc ons to reverse

address back to previous

address in SVRS

Voter record reverted back to previous address in SVRS

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M.S. 201.12 requires County Auditors to manually update a voter record when a nonforwardable election mailing sent to the voter is returned as undeliverable with a permanent forwarding address. When an in state permanent forwarding address is listed, the voter record must be manually updated to the new address on the returned mailing. When the permanent forwarding address is located in a different county within Minnesota, this requires coordination between counties. After the voter record is updated, the voter is sent a notice and given 21 days to inform the auditor if their record was updated in error.

Records in the COA Express queue and Pend-ing Applications >> Source COA should be pro-cessed before performing any manual NCOA updates. If there is an election scheduled in the voter’s precinct within 47 days, manual NCOA updates should be processed within 10 days of either receiving a returned mailing or receiving a copy of a returned mailing from another county. If there is not a scheduled election in the voter’s precinct within 47 days, it is possi-ble to wait until the next batch of COA data is loaded to SVRS before processing the manual NCOA update.

MANUAL NCOA – IN STATE

1. Select Voter Records under the VoterRegistration menu.


To do this enter the first three letters of the last name plus an * into the Last Name Field and the first three letters of the first name plus an * into the First Name field.

Note: See the Search Voter Records instructions on the SVRS User Documentation page for more information on searching for voter records in SVRS.

3. Click Search.

4. Review the search results grid for the voterrecord that needs updating.

5. Select the appropriate voter record from thesearch results grid and click Update.

Note: Inactive records should only be activated through Manual NCOA if move is between counties and previous county inactivated record before providing notification to the new county.

6. If the record is challenged, only Ch-PostalReturn should be removed. All otherchallenge reasons, like Felony, Citizenship,Guardianship or Name Change, etc., must beleft on the record, and cannot be removedthough the Manual NCOA process.

If the only challenge is Postal Return, the challenge can be removed, making the record active.

7. Select Returned In-State from the Sourcedropdown menu.

8. The current date is auto filled in the UpdatedRegistration Date field.

9. Locate the move date on the return label. Themove date will be three digits, the first digit isthe month of the move and the second twodigits are the year of the move. For SVRSpurposes, the day of the move is always thefirst of the month that the move took place.

Note: Examples of how to locate the move date can be found in the COA information packet.

10. Enter the Move Date into the Application Datefield.

11. If the Use NCOA Address button does notappear below Residential Address header, skipto step 12.

If the Use NCOA Address button appears with an available address, compare the NCOA address to the permanent forwarding address listed on the returned nonforwardable mail.

If the NCOA address does not match thepermanent forwarding address listed on the returned nonforwardable mailing, continue to step 12.

If the NCOA address matches thepermanent forwarding address listed on the returned nonforwardable mail, click Use NCOA Address. Skip to step 13.

Note: Using the NCOA address will remove the NCOA record from the COA Express queue.

12. Enter the permanent forwarding address fromthe returned nonforwardable mailing into theResidential Address fields.

Note: Leave city/zip fields blank and the precinct finder will associate the address with the correct precinct.

13. Click Continue.

14. Review the Update Voter Final Review Screen.

15. If ok, click Submit. If not, click Back and makecorrections as needed.

MANUAL NCOA IN STATE

Rev. 12-26-2014

17

16. A COA notice is sent (unless the status of thevoter record is Challenged-Felony,Guardianship, Name Change or Citizenship)to the voter at their new address. The voterhas 21 days to inform the auditor if theirrecord was updated in error.

See Reversing COA for instructions on howto reverse a NCOA update to a voter record.

17. Repeat steps for additional records.

Reversing COA

The voter is given 21 days to inform the auditor if their record was updated in error. The following steps can be used to reverse the change of address (COA) update to the voter record.



To do this enter the first three letters of thelast name plus an * into the Last Name Fieldand the first three letters of the first name plusan * into the First Name field.Note: See the Search Voter Recordsinstructions on the SVRS User Documentationpage for more information on searching forvoter records in SVRS.

3. Click Search.

4. Review the search results grid for the voterrecord.

5. Select the voter record from the search resultsgrid and click View.

6. Click the Reverse COA button.

7. Select a reason for the reversal from theReverse Reason dropdown menu.Note: For example, a voter may contact youwithin 21 days to notify you that theymistakenly selected Permanent instead ofTemporary when filing their forwarding orderwith the USPS.

8. Click Submit.

Note: The voter record will be reversed back tothe status, address, and application dates onthe record before the COA update was made.

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M.S. 201.12 requires County Auditors to manually update a voter record when a nonforwardable election mailing sent to the voter is returned as undeliverable with a permanent forwarding address. When an out of state permanent forwarding address is listed, the auditor must manually schedule the voter record for inactivation. The voter is sent a notice (unless the status on the voter record is Challenged-Felony, Guardianship, Name Change or Citizenship) and given 21 days to inform the auditor if their voter record should not have been scheduled for inactivation.

Records in the COA Express queue and Pend-ing Applications >> Source COA should be processed before performing any manual NCOA updates. If there is an election scheduled in the voter’s precinct within 47 days, manual out of state NCOA correction should be processed within 10 days of either receiving a returned mailing. If there is not a scheduled election in the voter’s precinct with-in 47 days, it is possible to wait until the next batch of COA data is loaded to SVRS before processing the manual out of state NCOA.

MANUAL COA - OUT OF STATE



To do this enter the first three letters of the last name plus an * into the Last Name field and the first three letters of the first name plus an * into the First Name field.

Note: See the Search Voter Records instructions on the SVRS User Documentation page for more information on searching for voter records in SVRS that needs updating

3. Click Search.


5. Select the voter record from the search resultsgrid and click Correct.

6. Select Returned Out Of State from the Sourcedropdown list. Once selected, the New Out ofState Address fields will appear.

7. If the Use NCOA Address button does notappear below New Out of State Address, skipto step 8.

If the Use NCOA Address button does appear with an available address, compare the NCOA address to the out of state permanent forwarding address listed on the returned nonforwardable mailing.

If the NCOA address does not match thepermanent forwarding address listed on thereturned nonforwardable mailing, continueto step 8.

If the NCOA address matches thepermanent forwarding address listed on thereturned nonforwardable mailing, click UseNCOA Address. Skip to step 9.

Note: Using the NCOA address will remove the COA record from the COA Express queue.

8. Enter the out of state permanent forwardingaddress from the returned nonforwardablemailing into the New Out of State Addressfields.

9. Locate the move date on the return label. Themove date will be three digits, the first digit isthe month of the move and the second twodates are the year of the move.

Note: Examples of how to locate the move date can be found in the COA information packet.

10. Select the month and year of the move datefrom the Move Date dropdown lists.

11. Click Continue.

12. Review the Correct Voter Final Review screen.

13. If ok, click Submit. If not, click Back and makecorrections as needed.

Note: Upon Submit, a comment is automatically added to the comment field. The comment states when the record was scheduled for inactivation, when the record will be inactivated, and the out of state address.

14. The required COA notice will automatically besent to the voter at the out of stateaddress (unless the status of the voter record isChallenged-Felony, Guardianship, NameChange, or Citizenship) . The voter has 21 daysto inform the auditor if their record was updatedin error.

See Canceling Inactivation for instructions on how to cancel a scheduled NCOA out of state inactivation.

15. Repeat steps for additional records.

MANUAL NCOA OUT OF STATE

Rev. 07/20/2018

19

CANCELING INACTIVATION

The voter is given 21 days to inform the auditor if their record should not have been scheduled for inactivation. The following steps can be used to cancel a COA (change of address) related voter record inactivation.



To do this enter the first three letters of the last name plus an * into the Last Name field, the first three letters of the first name plus an * into the First Name field.

3. Click Search.


5. Select the voter record from the search resultsgrid and click View.

6. Click the Cancel COA button.

7. Select a reason for the cancellation from theCancel Reason dropdown list.

Note: For example, a voter may contact you with-in 21 days to notify you that they mistakenly selected Permanent instead of Tem-porary when filing their forwarding order with the USPS. We only receive COA data for permanent forwarding orders.

8. Click Submit.

Notes:

The comment on the voter record regarding the scheduled inactivation is automatically removed from the record.

The voter record’s status is reset to what the sta-tus was before the record was scheduled for inactivation.

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MOVE DATE ON YELLOW RETURN LABEL

Move Date

First digit is the month of themove

For Month: 1-9 is Jan-Sept,A is Oct, B is Nov, C is Dec

Second two digits are the yearof the move

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Move Date




22


Move Date




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Revised April 2015

COA Best Practices

Processing EDRs versus COA after an Election: Always process Election Day Registrations (EDRs) before processing anything from COA.

o This includes: SVRS queues ‐ COA Express, Pending Apps >> COA as well as returned election mail.

Generally, it is best to process COA‐related items last.

Providing proper notification to a new county after a nonforwardable election mailing is returned listing a new permanent forwarding address in a different county:

A copy of the returned nonforwardable election mail should be sent to the new county by scan/email, fax or

standard mail as notification.

Before sending the notification to the new county, verify that the move date on the yellow return label is

more current than the application date on the voter record and the last instance of voting history.

o The voter record cannot be updated by the new county to the address listed on the return label

unless the move date is newer than both the last instance of voting history and the application date

on the voter record.

If the move date is not the most current date, the record should be challenged as you would with a returned

nonforwardable that does not list a permanent forwarding address on the return label.

M.S. 201.12 provides county that received the returned nonforwardable mailing the option of inactivating

the voter record before providing notification to the new county, but this should only be done if the move

date is the most current date.

Use the precinct finder (http://pollfinder.sos.state.mn.us) to verify the county in which the new address is

located.

May need to move yellow return label so new county is able to see the voter name and previous address

information on the front of the returned mailing.

Keep the original returned mail for internal records. As with voter registration applications, record should be

retained for 22 months.

Handling a notification from another county when the voter record is listed in SVRS as Inactive: Inactive records should only be activated through the Manual NCOA process if the move is between counties

and the previous county inactivated the record, as allowed by M.S. 201.12 before forwarding the returned

mailing to your county.

Handling nonforwardable election mailings returned as undeliverable with a PO Box located in a new county listed on the yellow return label:

Notification should not be provided to the new county.

This type of returned mailing would be processed like a PVC that is returned as undeliverable without a new

permanent address listed on the yellow return label.

Handling in‐state COA notices (green stripe) returned as undeliverable with a PO Box listed on the yellow return label:

These returned notices cannot be processed through the Manual NCOA process because a PO Box is not a

residential address.

The returned COA notice should be processed like a returned PVC that does not list a new permanent

forwarding address.

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Revised April 2015

In the case that the residential address on the voter record cannot receive mail, the PO Box may be entered

as a mailing address on the voter record according to your county process for handling PO Boxes.

Handling an out‐of‐state COA notice (yellow stripe) that has been returned as undeliverable: Look up the voter record in SVRS.

Cancel the pending inactivation or reverse the inactivation.

Queue a standard PVC to be sent to the Minnesota address on the voter record.

If the PVC is returned as undeliverable, challenge the voter record.

Receiving a notification from an individual other than the voter that they have received a COA notice, (green in‐state or yellow out‐of‐state), for an individual that does not live at their address:

CANNOT discuss a voter record with an individual who is not the voter.

o Instruct individual to mark the card “Not at this Address” and return the notification to Post Office.

(Warn individual who lives at address that PVC will arrive and for them to return to Post Office as

before.)

Upon receipt of undeliverable notice by county, look up the voter record in SVRS.

Update the voter record to Challenged – Postal Return.

Queue standard PVC to be sent to address.

Inactivate voter record upon return of PVC.

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RETURNED PVC BEST PRACTICES, NO NCOA PERMANENT FORWARDING ADDRESS

Reason returned from yellow sticker on PVC Return Reason (in Returned PVCs in SVRS)Change status to (in Returned

PVCs in SVRS)

Resend

PVC

Number of days until

second PVC is sent (if

second PVC is sent)

Inactive after

1st PVC

comes back

Inactive after 2nd

PVC comes backNotes

attempted not known no such address - undeliverable challenged postal return yes 60 no yes

deceased

Verify death by another method before

processing.

insufficient address undeliverable challenged postal return yes other no yes

Additional research needed to

determine problem with address.

moved left no address undeliverable challenged postal return yes 60 no yes

no such number undeliverable challenged postal return yes other yes

challenge postal return after additional

research is done to see if deficient

registration.

no such person at this address other challenged postal return no no no

not deliverable as address undeliverable challenged postal return yes 60 yes

po box

Additional research may be needed.

Procedure for handling returned PVC

depends on county use of PO Boxes.

return to sender undeliverable challenged postal return yes 60 yes

temporarily away temporarily undeliverable active yes 60 no

Resend 2nd PVC within 60 days or

based on timing.

unable to forward undeliverable challenged postal return yes 60 no yes

vacant undeliverable challenged postal return yes 60 yes

60temporarily undeliverable active yes other yesundeliverable challenged postal return no noin state forwarding address - undeliverable inactive - usps forwarding addressout of state forwarding address - undeliverable inactive - postal returnno such address - undeliverable challenge - name/addressother

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Reason returned from yellow

sticker on Returned Election

Mailing

Changes to voter record in SVRSNotification to other

countyAction by other county Notification to voter Notes

address change within county,

forwarding address listed

Using Update, voter record

source changed to Returned In-

State and voter's address

udated to forwarding address.

Notice automatically sent to

voter. Voter can contact

county within 21 days if

address changed in error.

Additional option (if not

within 47 days of an

election): wait until next

set of COA data is

queued in SVRS.

address change outside

county, forwarding address

listed

Change record status to

Inactive .

Scan/Email, fax or mail

copy of returned

PVC/election mailing to

county where forwarding

address is located.

Upon receipt of

notification, second

county updates voter's

address in SVRS to

forwarding address.





moved out of state,


Using Correct, voter record

source changed to Returned Out-

Of-State and out of state address

entered into New Out of State

Address fields.





Additional option (if not

within 47 days of an

election): wait until next

set of COA data is

queued in SVRS.

same address different

apartment number,


Using Update, voter record

source changed to Returned In-

State and voter's address

udated to forwarding address.





RETURNED ELECTION MAILING WITH NCOA PERMANENT FORWARDING ADDRESS

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