Since the database was installed last December, the voter registration process has been invalidating numerous registrations, mostly as a result of minor data-entry problems.
For example, 14,629 out of 34,064 voter registration forms -- or 43 percent -- were "kicked out," or rejected, in Los Angeles County between Jan. 1 and March 15. Such results have election officials statewide fearing that the new registration system will bump eligible voters from the voter rolls.
The problems could first affect a small number of local elections starting this month, including a special congressional election tomorrow in San Diego County.
The registration database, run by Secretary of State Bruce McPherson, was mandated by the federal Help America Vote Act (HAVA). The law requires that each state establish a centralized voter registration database.
In an e-mail response to questions, a spokeswoman for McPherson wouldn't provide technical details of the system, nor would she talk about the nature of the problems. She did note that 74 percent of voter registrations are cleared on the first try. The rest, she said, require manual validation by county elections workers.
Strict criteria
Elaine Ginnold, registrar of voters for Alameda County, said the rejection rate there hovers around 10 percent, a total that would be expected with any new system. However, she also noted that the new system could kick out eligible voters.
County election officials said the new registration system requires that potential voters provide a driver's license number or other identifying information to a county registrar. The data is keyed into a local database and periodically uploaded to the new centralized system, which matches it with information from the California Department of Motor Vehicles and other agencies to verify that it's authentic.
The rigorous system will reject applications whose data doesn't exactly match the confirming documents. Even small discrepancies, such as a missing middle initial, could cause an application to be rejected.
"My main concern is there could be 20,000 to 30,000 new registration cards delivered to Alameda County at the registration deadline," Ginnold said. The deadline for the state election is May 22.
The registration information takes a week to process into the Alameda database before being sent to the state database for matching, which can take up to five days, Ginnold said. "We would get the kick-outs only a few days before the election -- which won't allow enough time to manually validate them," she said.
The potential problems have provided fodder for McPherson's critics, who claim that he selected rigid guidelines that could unfairly penalize voters.
The voter database has "been a disaster for anyone who is trying to register for the first time or reregister because they moved, got married and need to change their name or change parties," said California State Sen. Debra Bowen, who held a hearing last week on the matter. A spokesman for Bowen said the rejection rate should be between 1 percent and 2 percent.
The U.S. Department of Justice, which enforces HAVA, worked with McPherson's office as the system was being crafted.
The secretary of state's office has set up processes to offer guidance to counties and voters on fulfilling the new requirements, McPherson's spokeswoman said. He has also proposed legislation to "provide common-sense flexibility so that no eligible voter should be denied the opportunity to vote because of a technicality," she said.
Ginnold said that ultimately, a centralized database that has a single entry for each voter can successfully prevent fraud. Previously, election officials relied on local databases and registration rules, and exact matches weren't required.
"The goal is excellent, and we shouldn't lose sight of that," Ginnold said. "The road is a little rocky now."