SB 112, Monning. Voter information: public examination.
Existing law sets forth the requirements and procedures for handling the voter registration card and for the specific voter information that is contained therein. Existing law provides that the home address, telephone number, e-mail address, precinct number or other specified number, and prior registration information shown on the voter registration card for all registered voters are confidential and prohibits the disclosure of that information to any person, except as specified.
This bill would require that the above-referenced voter registration card information that is in existence 100 years after the creation of the record be available to the public. If the records are contained in the great registers of voters and the bound register contains information covering more than one year, the bill would prohibit the public availability of the records until the entire contents of the register have been recorded for at least 100 years. The bill would make a conforming change to existing law.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
Section 2194 of the Elections Code is amended to read:
(a) Except as provided in Section 2194.1, the voter registration card information identified in Section 6254.4 of the Government Code:
(1) Shall be confidential and shall not appear on any computer terminal, list, affidavit, duplicate affidavit, or other medium routinely available to the public at the county elections official’s office.
(2) Shall not be used for any personal, private, or commercial purpose, including, but not limited to:
(A) The harassment of any voter or voter’s household.
(B) The advertising, solicitation, sale, or marketing of products or services to any voter or voter’s household.
(C) Reproduction in print, broadcast visual or audio, or display on the Internet or any computer terminal unless pursuant to paragraph (3).
(3) Shall be provided with respect to any voter, subject to the provisions of Sections 2166.5, 2166.7, and 2188, to any candidate for federal, state, or local office, to any committee for or against any initiative or referendum measure for which legal publication is made, and to any person for election, scholarly, journalistic, or political purposes, or for governmental purposes, as determined by the Secretary of State.
(b) (1) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the California driver’s license number, the California identification card number, the social security number, and any other unique identifier used by the State of California for purposes of voter identification shown on a voter registration card of a registered voter, or added to voter registration records to comply with the requirements of the federal Help America Vote Act of 2002 (42 U.S.C. Sec. 15301 et seq.), are confidential and shall not be disclosed to any person.
(2) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the signature of the voter shown on the voter registration card is confidential and shall not be disclosed to any person, except as provided in subdivision (c).
(c) (1) The home address or signature of any voter shall be released whenever the person’s vote is challenged pursuant to Sections 15105 to 15108, inclusive, or Article 3 (commencing with Section 14240) of Chapter 3 of Division 14. The address or signature shall be released only to the challenger, to elections officials, and to other persons as necessary to make, defend against, or adjudicate the challenge.
(2) An elections official shall permit a person to view the signature of a voter for the purpose of determining whether the signature matches a signature on an affidavit of registration or a petition, but shall not permit a signature to be copied.
(d) A governmental entity, or officer or employee thereof, shall not be held civilly liable as a result of disclosure of the information referred to in this section, unless by a showing of gross negligence or willfulness.
(e) For the purposes of this section, “voter’s household” is defined as the voter’s place of residence or mailing address or any persons who reside at the place of residence or use the mailing address as supplied on the affidavit of registration pursuant to paragraphs (3) and (4) of subdivision (a) of Section 2150.
Section 2194.1 is added to the Elections Code, to read:
Any voter registration card information identified in Section 6254.4 of the Government Code in existence 100 years after the creation of the record shall be available to the public. If records are contained in the great registers of voters and the bound register contains information covering more than one year, the records shall not be available to the public until the entire contents of the register have been recorded for at least 100 years.
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