Protecting Alabamians Who Participate in Our Representative Democracy
by Ed Packard

Like citizens across the country, we Alabamians have taken notice of identity theft and are concerned about the security of our personal information. Our concerns are heightened when we hear media reports of information stolen from corporate or governmental databases.

Officials often remind us of steps we can take to protect our information: shredding or securing papers with sensitive information; using discretion when we provide information to businesses. However, we rarely if ever hear about one of the most common ways we relinquish personal information to be bought and sold on the open market: registering to vote.

Alabama law provides that your completed voter registration application is not a public record and the information on it cannot be distributed by your county board of registrars without your consent. If you read further, though, the Legislature has said that your information, except for Social Security number, may be given or sold to individuals, businesses, political parties, incumbent officeholders and organizations promoting voter education and registration.

Therefore, the law at first glance seems to create a safe harbor for the personal information we have given our county boards of registrars. However, the database with that information is actually an open port of call for anyone with the money and desire to collect our names, addresses and dates of birth.

Candidates and political activites would argue, of course, that making this information available is a necssary part of the election process. They contend they need this information to communicate with registered voters by phone or mail. Since they can also purchase our voting history along with our demographic information (e.g., date of birth, gender), they can specifically target those of us who have voted recently or who fall into a particular demographic group (e.g., males and females over 65; females between the ages of 18 and 24 who voted in the last election). The ability to target their efforts allows for more efficient use of limited campaign resources in speaking to people who may have like interests.

The needs of political campaigns and "get out the vote" organizations are understandable. The desire of Alabamians to exert some control over their personal information should be just as understandable.

The primary function of the voter list is to identify those individuals qualified to vote. We should take steps to ensure the list serves that purpose, while offering protections to voters who may wish to limit public distribution of the information they disclose when registering to vote. We should not forget that the reason individuals provide personal information at all is so that the boards of registrars may determine each applicant's eligibility to vote.

The voter registration application requests some information not directly related to voter qualifications (e.g., gender, race, place of birth). This information assists the boards of registrars in managing the voter list and ensuring that individuals are not registered to vote in more than one jurisdiction. Since this additional information does not speak directly to one's eligibility to vote, we should look upon these disclosures by voters as helpful assistance that enhances the integrity of the voter list. As a measure of good faith

and cooperation, we should offer a voter the opportunity to limit the use of that information to election officials only.

While some privacy advocates might suggest the law should be changed to make the lists closed records, we would argue that registered voters should be granted the choice of determining whether their information is kept private or is made public. It seems more appropriate, though, that we should each be given the opportunity to decide if the county or state may release our personal information.

Some voters may readily welcome contact from political parties or candidates and, thus, might not mind being on a list made available for mass mailings or telephone campaigns. Other voters may prefer more control over who can obtain - and use - their addresses or phone numbers.

One might be tempted to ask why any of this matters. If someone is willing to pay for the information, why not let them buy it? If a voter does not want the political mail, she can just throw it away. Unsolicited calls? Just hang up.

To frame the argument in these terms suggests that the only issue at hand is one of convenience. How convenient can we make it for political campaigns to contact likely voters. How convenient or, as the case may be, inconvenient, is it for the registered voters who are targeted by these campaigns? The issue can be more complex than mere convenience though.

What do we say to the many Alabamians who have been victims of identity theft - or are concerned they might be in the future? What do we say to public figures, such as police officers or judges, for whom public distribution of their information may lead to concerns about the safety of their families?

What do we say to a woman who has been stalked or abused and is concerned about who knows where she lives or how to call her? Do we tell them that not registering to vote is the only way we will guarantee the privacy of their address or phone number? Do we tell them that the only way to obtain some peace of mind is for them to forgo participation in the most fundamental process of our represenative democracy?

Whether one considers voting a 'right' or a 'privilege', voters should not be required to relinquish their privacy or their sense of security in exchange for the opportunity to help choose those individuals who will govern us. When applying for voter registration, the applicant should be provided an opportunity to restrict the release of her personal information. To address the various, and sometimes conflicting, needs and desires of political parties and privacy advocates, political junkies and the security-minded, state law should let voters take this decision into their own hands.

Ed Packard is an election official with the Alabama secretary of state's office. He is the recipient of the Charles Spindler Award for Outstanding Achievement for his work as an election administrator. A version of this article was previously printed in The Birmingham News on June 5, 2005. This essay does not necessarily reflect the views of the office of the Alabama Secretary of State or the State of Alabama.