WA State SOS's voter request reply

[KT2000]

It looks like some laws need to change in Washington.
Reply to comments I sent her:

Thank you for your comments. I value your input and appreciate you sharing your opinion in this matter.



I want to be clear: Even though the federal commission has requested private information from the voting records maintained by our office, we will absolutely not release any private information to the federal commission. That includes:



· Social Security number

· Driver’s license number

· Phone number

· E-mail address

· Where and how a person registered

· Language preference

· Party affiliation (which is not collected by the state)



State law specifically requires the following information contained in the state’s voter database be publicly accessible (please see RCW 29A.08.710(2)):



· Name

· Address

· District

· Gender

· Date of birth

· Elections in which a voter participated

· Date of registration

· Voter registration number



As such, in response to the federal request, we have given the commission a link to where they can access the public information. If our office does not adhere to the law, we are subject to fines from $5 to $100 per document each day we do not comply. With over four million voter records, failing to provide access to the public information could cost state taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars.



Your private voter data is something we take very seriously and we will NOT release it to anyone. I encourage you to follow our Facebook page for updates on this issue. You can find us at www.facebook.com/WaSecretaryOfState.



Sincerely,



KimSignature.gif

[thinkingagain]

1. Hey you got the same response that I did :)

So how do we change the law that allows for that much info about a voter to be public access?
I personally think that for the voter rolls at the very most they should have Verified voter @ this address / phone (don't even like that )

[KT2000]

3. Her Facebook page

has posts from people interested in changing the law. I think we can write to our legislators and let them know we want that change.
Agree that info should be limited - how about name and district only.

I know politicians running for office request the voter lists so they can target districts for more effective campaigning. The parties would be against any law change I bet.

[Kaleva]

2. Michigan is doing pretty much the same thing.

The state will provide the info that it is required by law to make publicly available but will not provide private data.