How private is your voter registration information?

“Who you vote for is private, but whether you vote is public.”

Postcards, flyers and other mailings with that message – or a variation of it – have been landing in mailboxes across Southern California Election Dayapproaches. According to the left-wing groups behind some mailings, the intention is to encourage people to participate in the elections, especially those considered “inconsistent.” voters.

Some mailers include a reminder that Election Day is Tuesday, November 5.

Others were a bit more personal, leaving voters wondering how private their voter registration information is.

One letter, a so-called “voting report card,” sent to California voters from the Washington, D.C.-based Center for Voter Information, lists the recipient’s voting record in the 2022, 2020, 2018 and 2016 elections.

Below are the voting records of two neighbors, with their names and some of their addresses blacked out.

“We are sending this mailing to you and your neighbors to inform you who is and is not voting, in an effort to promote election participation,” the letter says. “While we have hidden your neighbor’s name and house number to protect their privacy, this is their real voting information.

“We will look at this data after the election to determine whether or not you voted together with your neighbors.”

Although the Center for Voter Information bills itself as a nonpartisan group aimed at helping people register to vote and participate in elections, it has spent money to support Democratic candidates in previous elections, including President Joe Biden in 2020. (The FEC does not report any spending data for the group for this election cycle.)

During this election cycle, it sent 7.1 million pieces of “this type of voter turnout mail” to 1.9 million voters, including 630,000 voters in Orange County, Tom Lopach, president and CEO of the Center for Voter Information, said in an emailed statement. mail. The group targeted voters who are people of color, unmarried women and young people, as well as “Americans who share the values of representative government,” Lopach said.

“We have one main mission, and that is to encourage people to vote,” Lopach said. “Whether someone voted in an election is public. As a citizen engagement group, we use public records to help voters understand their voting behavior.”

What voter information is public

So what information is publicly available about voters?

Access to voter registration lists and the information associated with them, vary from state to state.

In California, voter registration informationkept by the Secretary of State, is accessible to candidates for federal, state, or local office; committees relating to initiative or referendum measures; or people who want to use the information for electoral, government, journalistic, political or scientific purposes, the Minister of Foreign Affairs said.

A voter registration database contains a voter’s name, date of birth, home and mailing address, contact information, and political party preference. Voter participation history includes the type of election a voter participated in, the date of the election, and the voting method, such as by mail or at a polling place.

Voter registration information does not include the person’s voting choice, such as who they voted for.

Driver’s license numbers, social security numbers and signatures are also confidential and will not be made public.

There is an application process for those wishing to obtain voter registration information, filed through the Secretary of State or a county.

According to a copy from the Orange County Registrar of Voters, the application requires the applicant to detail how they would use the information and how they intend to keep it secure.

However, use of voter file information is “limited only to the purposes enumerated and use of the voter file to harass a voter or a voter’s household as specified in the California Elections Code… is illegal,” said Jordan Reilly, a spokesman for the secretary of That, the state agency said Thursday.

“We have received two reports of these types of messages and are conducting a further review,” Reilly said. “California’s voter file is not public and is considered confidential under state law. Voter record information may be used for specific purposes only upon request to the Secretary of State or a county elections official.”

Increase turnout or intimidate?

Mailers, like the ones that arrived in the mailboxes of Southern California voters in recent days from two left-wing groups, are not new. They are “get out the vote” efforts by campaigns or groups that typically advocate a cause, said Dan Schnur, a former campaign consultant who teaches political messaging at UC Berkeley and USC.

That includes a postcard sent to voters across the country by the Progressive Turnout Project, a voter contact group that works to mobilize Democrats.

Voters in Southern California were sent postcards reading “America Votes Tuesday, November 5” with the message: “Thank you for being a voter! Who you vote for is private, but whether you vote is public. Please vote in the elections on Tuesday, November 5!”

That is one of three choices volunteers who handwrite the messages on the postcards can choose from. It’s called the “social pressure” message, which the Progressive Turnout Project says is the most effective choice. Another message encourages voters to make a plan to vote in the election, and a third option encourages the recipient to remind friends and family to vote.

The postcard contains a URL pointing to a website, paid for by the Democratic National Committee, that helps people register to vote and check the status of their ballot, among other assistance. There is also information about states’ voter hotline numbers.

The group has sent more than 40 million postcards this election cycle, including to voters in close-race California congressional districts: CA-27, CA-40, CA-41, CA-45, CA-47 and CA-49.

Sign up for Down Ballot, our email newsletter about Southern California politics. Subscribe hereIt is unclear whether right-wing or Republican-affiliated groups are sending similar mailers to voters in Southern California.

While the most effective strategy for voting is person-to-person, these types of mailers can also tap into someone’s sense of belonging.

“We are a tribal species and we like to be reminded that we are part of a group,” Schnur said. “We don’t want to feel left out, and this type of mailing responds to those concerns.”

The mailers can increase turnout, but also have an intimidating effect on voters, Schnur said.

When asked about the letter’s promise to verify whether the recipient participated in this election, the Center for Voter Information’s Lopach said the group will “sometimes contact voters after an election to better inform our future mailing programs.” to inform”.

“Many email recipients appreciate the follow-up conversation, and we’ve learned that repeated communication often leads to citizens becoming regular voters,” Lopach said.

Similar mailers were also sent to voters in Maryland and Virginia by the Center for Voter Information, according to news reports.

Although certain voter registration information may be available to those who successfully request it, the information cannot be used to harass a voter or his household or to advertise, solicit products or services to a voter or his household, to sell or market, according to the information. provided by Orange County Clerk Bob Page.