This letter is to inform you of changes being made to the voter registration process, so that ODJFS can continue to meet its responsibilities to enforce the National Voter Registration Act. These changes will be effective January 1, 2010. If any changes are made to the rules contained in this transmittal letter during the Joint Committee on Agency Rule Review's review period, the corrected rule(s) will be sent out in a future Cash Assistance Manual Transmittal Letter. These rules have been submitted to statewide clearance under Clearance Control Number (CCN) 6593.

Background

In 1993, the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) was signed into law. The NVRA enhances voting opportunities for every American and has made it easier for all Americans to register to vote and to maintain their registration. This transmittal letter outlines some changes we are making to the voter registration process and explains how ODJFS is meeting our responsibilities to enforce the National Voter Registration Act.

Policy

Currently, rule 5101:1-2-01 of the Administrative Code requires the county departments of job and family services (CDJFS) to provide the Voter Registration Form (JFS 07200-VR) and the county-created "Notice of rights" to cash assistance groups at the time of the intake interview. Effective January 1, 2010, this will change. The two-page Voter Registration Form will become part of the application packet that is mailed or given to individuals requesting an application. In addition, we have created two new forms: the JFS 07217, "Voter Registration Notice of Rights and Declination", and the JFS 07218, "Voter Registration Transmittal". More information on these forms is provided in this letter, under "Applications/forms/brochures."

Applications/forms/brochures

Beginning in January 2010, the two-page Voter Registration Form will be attached to all ODJFS applications, reapplications and address change materials. The JFS 07200, "Request for Cash, Food, and Medical Assistance," and JFS 07204, "Request to Reapply for Cash and Food Assistance", will now include the question "If you are not registered to vote where you live now, would you like to apply to register to vote here today?" "Yes" and "no" boxes will be included, along with the statement "If you do not check either box, you will be considered to have decided not to register to vote at this time." Medical applications also will include this requirement, and a transmittal letter will be sent under separate cover by the Office of Ohio Health Plans. The two-page JFS 07200-VR form will remain available to order and can be reproduced by county departments of job and family services.

A new form, the JFS 07217, "Voter Registration Notice of Rights and Declination", has been created. The Spanish version of this form also is included with this transmittal. County agencies can use this form or create their own form, provided that the form contains all of the required statements and questions found in 42 U.S.C. Chapter 20, Section 1973gg-5 and Section 3503.10 of the Revised Code. In addition, Section 3503.10 of the Revised Code requires all "Notice of Rights and Declination" forms to include the local prosecuting attorney's address and phone number for the filing of complaints. A "Notice of Rights and Declination" form must be provided at times of application, reapplication and address change to individuals applying for or in receipt of assistance from the following programs:

• Ohio Works First (OWF);
• Disability Financial Assistance;
• Prevention, Retention and Contingency;
• Medical Assistance; and
• Food Assistance.

A new form, the JFS 07218, "Voter Registration Transmittal", has been created for use by county agencies to send completed voter registration forms to their local boards of elections within five business days from the date of receipt.

The Secretary of State has additional posters, brochures, voter registration holders and other materials. They can be ordered by calling 1-877-868-3874.

Training

The NVRA coordinators at the county departments of job and family services will receive annual trainings. Staff from ODJFS and the Secretary of State provided the initial training on August 14, 2009. Quarterly videoconferences will be held to review policies, procedures and monitoring efforts, and to address questions or concerns about the NVRA.

Related rule changes

Rule 5101:1-2-01, "The Application Process for Ohio Works First, Disability Financial Assistance, and Refugee Cash Assistance"

In addition to the change to provide the Voter Registration Form in the application packet rather than at the interview, and the addition of the newly created forms, we are making the following changes to this rule:

• JFS 07357, "Grant Payment Method Authorization-Mandatory", was made obsolete with Cash Assistance Transmittal Letter (CAMTL) #48, and references to it have been removed from this rule.
• The policy regarding the requirement to provide a follow-up letter no more than 20 days from the date of application has been removed from this rule. In April 2009, when the telephone interview policy was promoted in CRIS-E, we stopped generating the CM04P1 notice (application follow-up letter). This notice had been generated when outstanding verifications were needed in order to process cases. The verification codes in CRIS-E were pre-populated on this notice, and it was very difficult for applicants to understand what verifications were still needed. We revised the JFS 07105, "Application/Reapplication Verification Request", to include the statement that benefits will be denied if verifications are not received by the date indicated on the form.

Rule 5101:1-2-10, "Ohio Works First/Disability Financial Assistance/Refugee Cash Assistance: the Reapplication Requirement"

The following change has been made to this rule:

• The waiver of a reapplication interview for OWF assistance groups under a three-tier sanction has been revised to align with the policy in Rule 5101:1-3-15 of the Administrative Code which was issued in CAMTL #49. If the JFS 03804, "Ohio Works First/Food Assistance Sanction Compliance Agreement", or the CRIS-E-generated equivalent form is signed and received by the CDJFS after the last day of the sanction period, the assistance group must submit a new JFS 07200 in order for OWF to be provided. If the form is received by the CDJFS on or before the last day of the sanction period, and the assistance group is otherwise eligible, benefits are reinstated without a reapplication unless required by another program.

Rule 5101:1-2-15 "Voter Registration Requirement"

This rule has been reformatted to provide better readability. It consists of three sections:

• Background on the National Voter Registration Act of 1993;
• The role of the CDJFS in the voter registration process;
• The requirements of the CDJFS Voter Registration Coordinator.

CRIS-E

CRIS-E programming staff at ODJFS are working to make changes to the system to track the number of voter registration forms provided to assistance groups.

The CRIS-E screen AEWPR will include a new question: "How was the voter registration form distributed?" This new field will accept four characters: "P" (for "in person"), "M" (for "mailed"), "A" (for "application"), or "N" (for "not applicable"). This screen will be accessible in four drivers: AEORE (reapplication), AECSQ (application), AEOAD (address change) and AEOEA (PRC). The "Notice of Rights and Declination" form will automatically print out.

A CRIS-E View Flash Bulletin (CLVB) will be issued prior to the implementation date with more details.

INSTRUCTIONS:

The following chart identifies the material that should be removed from the Cash Assistance Manual and the material that should be added.