A prefiled Alabama House bill would cap charges for voter rolls and restrict voter information available from the rolls.
House Bill 67, sponsored by Rep. Jamie Kiel, R-Russellville, would limit charges for voter rolls to $1,000 and prohibits the agency from providing “personal information” to the public, from driver’s license and voter identification numbers to the email addresses and telephone numbers of voters.
“Alabama voters deserve to have their personal data protected,” Kiel said in a statement that was part of a news release from the Secretary of State’s Office. “HB 67 safeguards Alabama voters by keeping their personal information confidential and prohibiting the commercial use of voter registration records.”
A message was sent to Kiel on Tuesday seeking additional comment.
The bill allows the public to request a list of voters and election history information from the Secretary of State’s Office from the previous 10 election cycles. According to the news release from the Alabama Secretary of State’s Office, it currently charges one cent per voter on the list.
“HB 67 is rooted in government accountability and transparency,” said Wes Allen, Secretary of State for Alabama. “Its passage will establish a clear standard by statutorily aligning the maximum cost for purchasing Alabama’s voter list with our neighboring Southeastern states.”
However, the information will exclude what the Alabama Secretary of State’s Office considers personal information, including people’s birthdays and their Social Security numbers.
Clete Welti, communications director for the Alabama House Democrats, said the changes could limit the usefulness of the list.
“Essentially, right now, someone without a lot of economic means can pretty much afford to get the voter files when running for office,” he said. “Once you get that voter file, you have got those email addresses, phone numbers, you have a physical address and age. Now, if you are saying all the information is ‘confidential,’ then all you are going to get from the Secretary of State’s Office, if this bill passes, is a list of names.”
The names, by themselves, are not useful, Welti said. Candidates would then need to use a third party company to match the names to other identifying information to contact voters when campaigning.
Read more at AlabamaReflector.com.