Summary

Section 303 of the Federal Help America Vote Act of 2002 (HAVA), Public Law 107-252, requires states to implement a centralized voter registration system.  Florida’s Statewide voter registration system is the Florida Voter Registration System (FVRS) and is maintained by the Department of State (Department).

Our audit focused on determining the status of corrective actions regarding prior audit findings disclosed in audit report No. 2006-194, finding Nos. 10 through 12, relating to Department information technology (IT) controls over FVRS.  Our audit, which included the period July 2006 through February 2008 and selected Department actions taken through March 2008, concentrated on Department actions and did not include a review of procedures at the 67 county Supervisors of Elections’ offices. 

The results of our follow-up audit are summarized below:

Finding No. 1:         A comprehensive IT risk assessment of FVRS had been performed and the Department was in the process of addressing the risks identified in the risk assessment report.  However, the Department’s written policies and procedures for authorizing access to FVRS needed enhancement and the Department had not established written policies and procedures for monitoring and terminating access to FVRS. 

Finding No. 2:        Although some policies and procedures had been developed, the Department’s IT governance model continued to lack important provisions relating to the management, use, and operation of FVRS. 

Finding No. 3:        Although the Department had put measures in place to help ensure the integrity of data in FVRS, improvements were still needed in the comprehensive check of all felony convictions against all voters. 

The Secretary of State's response is included at the end of this report as APPENDIX A.