ESB Data Standard Communication

Communication – Initial Invitation Letter/Email, and 3 Reminder Emails

Dear [NAME OF LEO] –

On behalf of the Federal Voting Assistance Program (FVAP), we are reaching out to you for help in researching the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA) voting process in your jurisdiction.

To better assist UOCAVA voters, FVAP and the Council of State Governments worked to refine a transformative data schema called the Election Administration and Voting Survey (EAVS) Section B (ESB) Data Standard, or ESB Data Standard. The standard looks to capture UOCAVA transactions, such as:

• When a voter requests a ballot;

• When the application is processed;

• When the ballot is sent;

• To what country the ballot is sent;

• Why an application/ballot is rejected; and,

• Whether a voter is military or an overseas citizen.

This ESB Data Standard intends to identify specific impacts resulting from UOCAVA amendments affecting state and local election administration. With your participation, and participation of other jurisdictions, FVAP intends to recommend removal of substantial portions of the Election Administration and Voting Survey (EAVS) regarding administration of the UOCAVA.

The ESB Data Standard defines the columns and data types in the Comma-Separated Values (CSV) file you produce with your data. The ESB Data Standard documentation is hosted at this link, which you can copy-and-paste into your browser: [FVAP link with documentation will go here]. This resource is the best way to familiarize yourself with the various fields and definitions in the standard. Hopefully, the definitions are clear enough to help you map your data to the standard.

As an additional technical resource, we’ve prepared and attached some examples on creating the Structured Query Language (SQL) queries you might need to produce the data, as well as a reference implementation hosted here:

https://livesql.oracle.com/apex/livesql/s/hujwyp6c3kuicmzzjwsd7ku26.

The fields and tables are likely different from what exists in your database, so the code may need modification to accommodate system-specific syntax differences. Hopefully, these resources help illustrate and ease the development process.

We at FVAP are available to discuss the program, provide any assistance you may need, and discuss any other related matters. Do not hesitate to let me know if you have any questions.

Thank you, and we look forward to working with you on this timesaving endeavor.

[FVAP POC]