HAVA Annual Report - States

Help America Vote Act (HAVA)

VOTING ACCESS STATES & UNITS OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT NARRATIVE REPORT FORMAT & GUIDELINES

NARRATIVE REPORT for funds used under the Help America Vote Act, P.L. 107-252, Title II, Subtitle D, Section 261, Payments to States and Units of Local Government to assure access for individuals with disabilities (42 U.S.C. 15421).

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Per the requirements set forth in the Program Instruction pertaining to the availability of Fiscal Year 2010 funds under the Help America Vote Act, P.L. 107-252, Title II, Subtitle D, Section 261, Payments to States and Units of Local Government to assure access for individuals with disabilities (42 U.S.C. 15421), each grantee is required to ANNUALLY submit a narrative report describing the use of these funds with regard to the four mandated areas of activities authorized under 42 U.S.C. 15421 of the Help America Vote Act.

The narrative report should be written as a detailed summary of the HAVA activities, barriers, best practices, collaborations and funds spent to carry out the activities during the reported fiscal year. The emphasis of the narrative report is to address the states’ progress as it relates to the activities outlined in the Election Assistance for Individuals with Disabilities (EAID) plan (application) submitted for FY2010 in response to the Help America Vote Act program instruction. The narrative report should also identify the funds used to implement the four mandated areas of activities authorized under 42 U.S.C. 15421 of the Help America Vote Act. The four mandated areas are:

1. To make polling places accessible to individuals with disabilities;

2. To provide the same opportunity for access and participation in the electoral process, including privacy and independence, to voters with disabilities as that which exists for voters with no disabilities;

3. To provide training for election officials, poll workers, and election volunteers on how best to promote access and participation of individuals with disabilities in elections for Federal office; and

4. To provide information to individuals with disabilities with information about the accessibility of polling places.

The narrative report should review the states’ plan to address the four mandated areas and describe how the plans were carried out for each area. It is highly recommended that the following questions and statements be considered when summarizing the status of the four mandated areas:

• What activities described within the state’s FY2010 EAID plan (application) were carried out to completion?

• Describe any activities carried out to completion that displayed innovation and can be shared with other states as “best practices”.

• What activity, if any, listed in the state’s FY2010 EAID plan (application) was not carried out to completion? What were the barriers or the reasons hindering completion of the activity?

• Describe any significant barriers and/or roadblocks to carrying out proposed activities and suggested solutions.

• Describe activities which involved collaboration with other organizations or groups, for example the Protection & Advocacy System within the state, disability advocacy groups, student groups, etc.

• Describe the total amount of money spent to carry out the activities for each mandated area i.e. activity and amount spent on the activity

• If applicable, describe the continuity of activities. Have your organization’s activities been able to build upon earlier “start up” activities in an effective manner?

• Describe the feedback received from the citizens regarding the improvements and/or changes of voter accessibility issues within your state (if such information is available).

• Synopsis of funding carried over from previous fiscal years, i.e. - FY2006, FY2007, FY2008, FY 2009 and an explanation of your spending trend.

• DUE DATE

The annual narrative report which includes activities and expenditures for Fiscal Year 2010 (October 1, 2009 – September 30, 2010) is due no later than December 31, 2010. Please submit the narrative report electronically to: melvenia.wright@acf.hhs.gov . If unable to submit an electronic copy of the narrative report, please mail a hard copy to:

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Administration for Children and Families

Administration on Developmental Disabilities

370 L’Enfant Promenade, SW

Mail Stop HHH 405-D

Washington, DC 20447

Attn: Melvenia Wright, Program Specialist

• QUESTIONS ? ? ? ? ?

Should you have any questions regarding the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) Voting Access Annual Narrative Report for Fiscal Year 2010 (October 1, 2009 – September 30, 2010), please contact Melvenia Wright via the following:

Electronic Mail (E-mail): Telephone:

Melvenia.Wright@acf.hhs.gov (202) 690-5557

• PAPERWORK REDUCTION ACT OF 1995, Pub.L 104-13

As required by the Paperwork Reduction Act, 44 U.S.C. §§ 3501-3520, the public reporting burden for the annual report requirements in this notice are estimated to average 26 hours per response, whereas the application is estimated to 24 hours for a total of 50 hours per response, including the time for reviewing instructions, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and reviewing the collection information. The reporting requirements information collection is approved under Office of Management and Budget (OMB) control number 0970-0327. An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number. Renewal of OMB control number for the information collection is in process.

• REPORT FORMAT

The Fiscal Year 2010 Help America Vote Act (HAVA) Voting Access annual narrative report MUST be submitted in the following format.

HELP AMERICA VOTE ACT (HAVA) VOTING ACCESS ANNUAL REPORT – STATES

OMB Number: 0970-0327

Expiration Date: TBD by OMB

STATE: ________________________________________ FISCAL YEAR: 2010 (October 1, 2009 – September 30, 2010)

FISCAL YEAR 2010 AWARD AMOUNT: $________________________________

REPORT SUBMITTED BY: _________________________________________ _____________________________________

(Name) (Tile)

CONTACT INFORMATION: _____________________________________________________________________________

Telephone Number (E-mail Address)

DATE SUBMITTED: ___________________________

Mandate Area 1 To make polling places accessible to individuals with a full range of disabilities including the path of travel, entrances, exits, and voting areas of each polling facility. Goal/Activity outlined in the FY2010 EAID plan (application):
Description of activities in the EAID plan (application) carried out to completion	Description of activities that displayed innovation which can be shared as “best practices” with other states	Description of activities in the EAID plan (application) NOT carried out to completion & the barriers and/or reasons	Description of Significant Barriers and/or road blocks to carrying out activities & possible solutions	Description of collaborative efforts with other organizations or groups	Total amount of HAVA funding expended on activities in Mandate Area 1
Mandate Area 2 To provide the same opportunity for access and participation in the electoral process, including privacy and independence, to voters with disabilities as that which exists for voters with no disabilities. Goal/Activity outlined in the FY2010 EAID plan (application):
Description of activities in the EAID plan (application) carried out to completion	Description of activities that displayed innovation which can be shared as “best practices” with other states	Description of activities in the EAID plan (application) NOT carried out to completion & the barriers and/or reasons	Description of Significant Barriers and/or road blocks to carrying out activities & possible solutions	Description of collaborative efforts with other organizations or groups	Total amount of HAVA funding expended on activities in Mandate Area 2
Mandate Area 3 To provide training for election officials, poll workers, and election volunteers on how best to promote access and participation of individuals with disabilities in elections for Federal office. Goal/Activity outlined in the FY2010 EAID plan (application):
Description of activities in the EAID plan (application) carried out to completion	Description of activities that displayed innovation which can be shared as “best practices” with other states	Description of activities in the EAID plan (application) NOT carried out to completion & the barriers and/or reasons	Description of Significant Barriers and/or road blocks to carrying out activities & possible solutions	Description of collaborative efforts with other organizations or groups	Total amount of HAVA funding expended on activities in Mandate Area 3
Mandate Area 4 To provide information to individuals with a full range of disabilities with information about the accessibility of polling places. Goal/Activity outlined in the FY2010 EAID plan (application):
Description of activities in the EAID plan (application) carried out to completion	Description of activities that displayed innovation which can be shared as “best practices” with other states	Description of activities in the EAID plan (application) NOT carried out to completion & the barriers and/or reasons	Description of Significant Barriers and/or road blocks to carrying out activities & possible solutions	Description of collaborative efforts with other organizations or groups	Total amount of HAVA funding expended on activities in Mandate Area 4
Continuity of the activities
Citizen feedback on voter accessibility issues within your state
Funding carried over from previous fiscal years – FY 2006 - $ FY 2007 - $ FY 2008 - $ FY 2009 - $ Explanation of spending trend (use of funds and/or lack of funds used, particularly any FY2007 funds sent back to treasury )

SOS-HAVAnarrativereport&guidelines.doc