870 registrations filed in first 24 hours
Following a year of design and development involving state
agencies and IT vendors, NEReg2Vote went online Tuesday, September
22nd to mark National Voter Registration Day. Governor Pete
Ricketts issued a proclamation also naming September 22nd Nebraska
Online Voter Registration Day.
Secretary of State John Gale says he is very pleased with the
public response to NEReg2Vote. In the first 24 hours, 870
registrations were submitted to Nebraska’s new online voter
registration system.
“This is an exciting and important advance in our statewide
election system,” explained Gale. “Now Nebraska residents can
submit a new voter registration or update their current
registration at anytime, anywhere from their computers or mobile
devices.”
Nebraska is the 24th state to implement an online voter
registration system and the fourth in 2015 after Pennsylvania,
Hawaii and Massachusetts. Arizona was first in 2002. Gale said he
is anticipating an eager interest, and is excited to think that
many users will log onto NEReg2Vote during the first week of
service.
“Because it is new, we expect an initial surge in usage,” added
Gale. “Other states have also indicated both an early surge as well
as an overall increase in registration numbers after implementing
their online systems. We hope this also translates into greater
participation at the polls.”
By way of comparison, Massachusetts reported receiving 1,000
applications in the first 24 hours of launch, Pennsylvania had
4,859 in the first six days and Hawaii had 520 in the first two
weeks. “This is very exciting news,” remarked Gale. “Considering
the relative populations of Massachusetts and Pennsylvania, we
likely had the best 24-hour response by comparison. Of course, the
best news is that 870 users were able to successfully complete the
process without glitches.”
The web address is: www.ne.gov/go/NEReg2Vote. There is also a
link on the front page of the Secretary of State’s website at
www.sos.ne.gov.
Once there, users are asked to fill out their name, birthdate
and driver’s license or state-issued identification number, as it
appears on their card. This is important because the system is
designed to securely retrieve and match the user’s personal
information from the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV).
Users can update their name, address and party affiliation on
their voter registration record. NEReg2Vote is also available in
Spanish.
“In order to better assist users, we’ve also included a
demonstration program on the website, to walk users through the
application process and an FAQ page to help answer some of the most
common questions about the system,” added Gale. “Applications
submitted electronically are more secure, faster and more
efficient. This reduces postage costs and errors that could result
with paper registration forms.”
In order to complete their submission, users must attest to the
fact that all of the information is true and accurate.
Falsification of information could result in a felony charge, a
deterrent against fraud.
Those can include mistakes resulting from having to interpret
someone’s handwriting or through data entry. There is also a chance
of a registration form being lost in the mail.
Before the electronic application reaches the appropriate county
election official, the signature of the applicant is retrieved from
the DMV database.
That is another secure feature NEReg2Vote. Because it is
electronically transmitted, the signature cannot be shared or
reproduced in any way. It is only added to the user’s application
after they have submitted their data. As with all paper voter
applications, those transmitted digitally will be reviewed
individually by the appropriate county election official.
Gale said that, “if the application contains the required and
correct information, it will be approved. If there is a problem,
the applicant will be notified as to what additional information
needs to be supplied.”
In addition to the Secretary of State’s office, two other state
agencies were also involved: the Office of the Chief Information
Officer (OCIO) and the DMV as well as three IT vendors: Election
Systems and Software (ES&S), MorphoTrust and Nebraska
Interactive, Inc. (NI).
Gale thanked Senator Bob Krist of Omaha for championing the
legislation that led to the development of NEReg2Vote. A second
part of that legislation, implemented in 2016 will also allow
employees at the DMV to register users electronically. “This new
process will allow the data to be entered directly into the system
and transmitted electronically to the county election office – no
paper needed.”
Gale said that when the legislature first examined the
possibility of initiating an online voter registration system in
2011, the associated costs and technological needs were largely
unknown. “Based on research conducted by my office in 2013, the
time was right to move ahead with LB 661. Since then, nine states,
including Nebraska have added online voter registration.”
Users can find out more about online Government services in
Nebraska through:Twitter: http://twitter.com/nebraskagovFacebook:
http://www.facebook.com/nebraska.gov
About Nebraska.gov
Nebraska.gov is managed by Nebraska Interactive, LLC part of
eGovernment firm NIC’s (NASDAQ: EGOV) family of companies. Nebraska
Interactive works with state, county and city agencies to enable
them to conduct business online and improve public access to
government information.
About NIC
Founded in 1992, NIC (NASDAQ: EGOV) is the nation's leading
provider of official government websites, online services, and
secure payment processing solutions. The company's innovative
eGovernment services help make government more accessible to
everyone through technology. The family of NIC companies provides
eGovernment solutions for more than 3,500 federal, state, and local
agencies in the United States. Forbes has named NIC as one of the
“100 Best Small Companies in America” six times, most recently
ranked at No. 36 (2014), and the company has been included four
times on the Barron’s 400 Index. Additional information is
available at http://www.egov.com.
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version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20150924005838/en/
Nebraska.govCarmen Easley, 402-471-2154Director
of Marketing and Operationscarmen@egov.com
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