Voter Lists: Protecting Victims of Domestic Violence
HB333, sponsored by Representatives Jimmy Martin and Cam Ward, has cleared a committee in the Alabama House of Representatives and is awaiting floor action. It provides that neither the Secretary of State nor the county Board of Registrars may release a voter's residential address on a voter list if the voter submits an affidavit stating that he or she is a victim of domestic violence or has custody of a minor who has been a victim of domestic violence.
Overall, it's a good bill. Anyone who has been the victim of domestic violence should not have to compromise her personal safety in order to register to vote. Under current law, she has to do just that. State law requires the Secretary of State to sell a voter's information, including the home address of a voter, to anyone who makes application for the data. It also requires the county Boards of Registrars and the Judges of Probate to release that information to political party organizations. It is fair and just to carve out an exception in the law to protect victims of domestic violence.
While the bill is good, it is not the best bill it can be. As I've written elsewhere, I think all registered voters should have the statutory right to prevent election officials from selling information from their voter registration record.
Even if we agree that only narrow exceptions should be made in the law and the privacy of only well-defined categories of voters should be protected, this bill has a few gaps, gaps which could lead to a false sense of security on the part of voters whom the bill seeks to protect.
The bill addresses only those voter lists released by the Secretary of State and county Boards of Registrars. It does not address lists provided by the county Judges of Probate to political parties. It also does not address municipal polls lists which are public record once compiled by the city or town clerk.
In either of these cases, once the list is released, there is no way to control access to the residential information of particular voters.
This bill should be amended to ensure that the addresses of victims of domestic violence are excluded from lists distributed by any election official.
Overall, it's a good bill. Anyone who has been the victim of domestic violence should not have to compromise her personal safety in order to register to vote. Under current law, she has to do just that. State law requires the Secretary of State to sell a voter's information, including the home address of a voter, to anyone who makes application for the data. It also requires the county Boards of Registrars and the Judges of Probate to release that information to political party organizations. It is fair and just to carve out an exception in the law to protect victims of domestic violence.
While the bill is good, it is not the best bill it can be. As I've written elsewhere, I think all registered voters should have the statutory right to prevent election officials from selling information from their voter registration record.
Even if we agree that only narrow exceptions should be made in the law and the privacy of only well-defined categories of voters should be protected, this bill has a few gaps, gaps which could lead to a false sense of security on the part of voters whom the bill seeks to protect.
The bill addresses only those voter lists released by the Secretary of State and county Boards of Registrars. It does not address lists provided by the county Judges of Probate to political parties. It also does not address municipal polls lists which are public record once compiled by the city or town clerk.
In either of these cases, once the list is released, there is no way to control access to the residential information of particular voters.
This bill should be amended to ensure that the addresses of victims of domestic violence are excluded from lists distributed by any election official.
Labels: Alabama House of Representatives, Board of Registrars, Judge of Probate, Secretary of State, Voter Lists, Voter Registration
posted by Ed at 9:58 PM
2 Comments:
In North Carolina a provision was passed a few years ago that allows election boards to designate voters as "confidential" if they present a court document indicating that their information should be kept confidential to ensure their safety. By flagging certain individual voter records as "confidential," it prevents their residential address from being released to the public. It seems to be working well and the concern for "fraud" under this provision is unfounded due to the requirement of a court document to obtain the "confidential" classification. Good luck with this.
Thanks for the encouragement and information from NC, Michelle. The purpose of the bill is important and long overdue. Hopefully the weaknesses in this bill will be addressed and it will receive final passage.
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