BILL NUMBER: AB 1741	CHAPTERED  07/25/05

	CHAPTER  121
	FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE  JULY 25, 2005
	APPROVED BY GOVERNOR  JULY 25, 2005
	PASSED THE SENATE  JULY 11, 2005
	PASSED THE ASSEMBLY  MAY 16, 2005
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MAY 2, 2005
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  APRIL 21, 2005
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  APRIL 11, 2005

INTRODUCED BY   Committee on Judiciary (Jones (Chair), Evans, Laird,
Levine, Lieber, and Montanez)

                        MARCH 2, 2005

   An act to add Section 2188.5 to the Elections Code, relating to
voter information.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 1741, Committee on Judiciary  Voter information: privacy.
   Existing law sets forth the requirement for an application for
voter registration information, including a statement of the intended
use of the information requested.
   The bill would prohibit the requester of voter information or of
signatures or other information collected for an initiative,
referendum, or recall petition from sending the information outside
of the United States, as specified, and would state findings and
declarations regarding the protection of voter-related identities and
personal information of Californians.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:


  SECTION 1.  (a) The Legislature finds that identity theft is one of
the fastest growing crimes in America.  Last year nearly 10 million
people across the nation were victimized, resulting in losses to
businesses and consumers of more than 50 billion dollars. California
has the unflattering distinction of being the only state last year
with more than one million identity theft victims. One in 10 of the
nation's victims of identity theft are Californians, and the state
has 5 of the nation's top 15 regions for identity theft, according to
the Federal Trade Commission. The FBI has reported that many
identity thefts that occur in the United States are hatched
internationally and a leading bank regulator, the Federal Deposit
Insurance Corporation, has warned that increased outsourcing of jobs
overseas has heightened the risk of identity theft.
   (b) The Legislature further finds that identity theft is not a
partisan issue; persons across the political spectrum share growing
concerns that the cost of losing one's personal identity and privacy
is much greater than an issue of dollars and cents. Recent opinion
polls reveal that Californians place protecting their right to
privacy as a major concern. Victims of identity theft tell horror
stories of the hundreds of painful hours they must spend talking to
credit card companies, banks, insurance companies, law enforcement
officials, and merchants just to clear their name and their credit.
The crisis has created sufficient concern that it recently led to the
state's first identity theft conference, held recently on March 1,
2005. The conference partners included Governor Arnold
Schwarzenegger, law enforcement officials, politicians, businesses,
consumer advocates, and identity theft victims. All of the
participants recognized that the state needs to do much more to
protect the identity of California's citizens.
   (c) The Legislature further finds that the sharing of voter
information and initiative petition signatures abroad creates special
risks to the state's democratic process. It is well understood that
voter registration is the initial step in citizens' involvement in
the democratic process. Only registered voters are permitted to vote
in a democracy to safeguard the principle that elections are fair and
only those entitled to vote do so. In addition, under the California
Constitution's initiative requirements, only those proposed
initiative measures that have the support of a specified number of
petition signers may properly qualify to be voted on by the state's
electorate. It is therefore manifest that if voters come to believe
that by signing an initiative petition or registering to vote they
may risk becoming victims of identity theft through the outsourcing
of their identities abroad, they may not sign the petition and they
may not vote. It is therefore imperative that the state undertake
increased measures to protect the voter-related identities and
personal information of all Californians.
  SEC. 2.  Section 2188.5 is added to the Elections Code, to read:
   2188.5.   (a) A person who requests voter information pursuant to
Section 2188 or who obtains signatures or other information collected
for an initiative, referendum, or recall petition shall not send
that information outside of the United States or make it available in
any way electronically to persons outside the United States,
including, but not limited to, access over the Internet.(b) For
purposes of this section, "United States" includes each of the
several states of the United States, the District of Columbia, and
the territories and possessions of the United States.