PINES libraries will keep records of voter registration and declination electronically within the PINES user record. Each time a user record is created or modified, a patron must be asked if he/she wishes to register to vote, and his/her decision must be recorded in the designated field.
PINES libraries should include the following question on the PINES card application: If you aren’t registered to vote, would you like to register to vote here today? Select one:
All public libraries are required to keep this information for two (2) years by the Georgia Secretary of State’s office. Georgia public libraries must continue to follow all rules and requirements of the Motor Voter Act as specified by the Georgia Secretary of State’s Office.
To ensure timely processing of applications, completed voter registration applications must be mailed to the Secretary of State's office:
If an individual registering to vote does not have ID, you should accept the registration and submit it. The best practice is to take whatever they give you; it is their responsibility, not yours, to ensure proper completion of the form and presentation of ID. The county registration office will flag the account, and the voter will be required to show ID upon first instance of voting.
As of May 2022, the Secretary of State's Office advised that libraries must report numbers for those registering to vote and those declining - whether or not these reports are submitted with voter registration forms - using the Agency Recap Form furnished by the Secretary of State’s Office (right-click the link to save a local copy of the form):
These numbers should be reported weekly, except in the period beginning 15 days prior to the registration deadlines when they must be reported daily. If you have no registrations or declinations to report for the week, you do not need to send in a recap form. When reporting weekly, the recap forms can be sent on Mondays for the previous week. There are two options for reporting this information:
If you wish to pull the numbers from the PINES database, you can use this report in PINES Quick Reports:
After running the report, you can filter for “Declined to register” to determine the declination count and “Registered today” to determine the registration count.
Click here for a quick video on running the report.
For more information regarding voter registration, check out the Voter Registration FAQ for Libraries.