Protect Voter Data

"It isn't often that 44 states, led by both Republican and Democratic governors and secretaries of state, carve out similar positions on any given issue."

"The President's Commission has quickly politicized its work by asking states for an incredible amount of voter data that I have, time and time again, refused to release"

"[V]oting isn't a privilege bestowed by Kris Kobach. It's a right guaranteed to every citizen over 18 years of age, with just a few exceptions. Republican and Democratic officials have delivered that message. Kobach and the [Commission] should listen."

"This information is particularly sensitive because it can be matched up with other stolen or publicly available information to build a more complete profile for an individual and target them for fraud or other exploitation"

"Centralizing sensitive voter registration information from every U.S. state is a potential target for nefarious actors who may be intent on further undermining our electoral process."

"Why request information regarding political party affiliation to analyze vulnerability and issues related to voter registration and voting? Why do you need information regarding felony convictions if a state has determined a voter to be eligible to vote?"

"Although the standards vary across the country, there is no question that voter privacy and the secret ballot in particular - are integral to the American system of democracy. It is absolutely unprecedented for the federal government to demand the production of voter records from the states. "

"The program was ill conceived and poorly executed. We expect the Commission will simply announce that it has no intention, going forward, to ask the states for their voter records."

"Disclosure of some of the information encompassed by [the] request may be prohibited under State and/or federal law. Accordingly, I am denying [the] request."

"I never expected to see more withdrawals in a day than new registrations. The impact on voters is real. The impact on civic engagement is real. The impact on election offices is real."

"The release of private information creates a tremendous breach of trust with voters who work hard to protect themselves against identity fraud."

"While hacking into a voter registration system has no effect on tabulating election results, intrusions could result in unauthorized parties gaining access to data, regarding voters, candidates, ballot contests, and polling places."

"The Commission's pending action would increase the risks to the privacy of millions of registered voters, including in particular military families whose home addresses would be revealed, and would undermine the integrity of the federal election system."

"As the chief election official of this state, my first priority in the face of any request for personal data is to protect New Mexico voters and their privacy."

"The right to vote, secured only through robust voter privacy measures, is foundational to American democracy. That the Commission attempts to collect personal voterdata en masse raises the constitutional stakes."

"It's a naive first undertaking by the commission, and reflects that the commission may be getting ahead of itself"

"Absent a prohibition from this Court, the Commission will begin collecting and aggregating the sensitive, personal information of voters across the country without establishing any procedures to protect voter privacy or the security and integrity of the state voter data. "

"Regarding "de-identification," there is no identification or description of the process or technique, no explanation of what the Commission hopes to protect and how they can ensure they have done so, and no description of the reason for publishing anything."

"As Secretary of State, it is my duty to ensure the integrity of our elections and to protect the voting rights and privacy of our state's voters."

"Even if there were some way to guarantee that Georgia data submitted to the Commission would not be used for any commercial and/or non-election related purposes, you should still deny the request for information relating to Georgia's voters."

"The Legislature carefully designed strict restrictions on the sharing of voter information for good reason: to protect voter privacy. These protections would be rendered meaningless by the transfer of this data to the Commission, which has established no security protocols and intends to post everything it receives online."

"They can go jump in the Gulf of Mexico and Mississippi is a great state to launch from. Mississippi residents should celebrate Independence Day and our state's right to protect the privacy of our citizens by conducting our own electoral processes."

"The research...shows that 75 percent of 992 people surveyed consider it either not OK or definitely not OK to make information in public records more accessible, including by making it available online. "

"Forty-four states and the District of Columbia have refused to provide certain types of voter information to the Trump administration's election integrity commission, according to a CNN inquiry to all 50 states."

"Conservatives and liberals alike should be appalled that a commission brought into existence by a presidential executive order wants such sensitive personal data on the thinnest of pretexts."

"We urge you to protect the rights of the voters in your states and to oppose the request from the PACEI."

"The Illinois State Board of Elections was the victim of a malicious cyber-attack of unknown origin against the Illinois Voter Registration System database (IVRS) beginning June 23, 2016. Analysis concluded that in addition to viewing multiple database tables, attackers accessed approximately 90,000 voter registration records."

"Commission officials should forget this outrageous attempt to collect private information on every registered voter in the country."

"[T]his proposed collection violates a core provision of the E-Government Act of 2002, which requires that agencies establish sufficient protections prior to initiating any new collection of personal information using information technology. The Commission's actions also violate voters' Fifth Amendment right to informational privacy."

"If there were any information worthy of a constitutional shield from disclosure, it is personal information shared for the limited purpose of exercising of the right to vote. The right to vote is referenced by the U.S. Constitution five times, more than any other right. "

"I also have a concern about data privacy. I have no clear assurances about the security that this national database will receive. In light of the domestic and foreign attacks in 2016 on state voter registration databases, the commission will need to assure my office of a high level of security."

"We know that a database of personal information from all voting Americans would be attractive not only to adversaries seeking to affect voting but to criminals who could use the identifying information as a wedge into identity theft."

"From what we hear ... they (the voters) don't want their information to be a part of the Commission's work. "

"A proposal to establish a national database of sensitive voter data, gathered contrary to state privacy law, and with no assurance of privacy protection makes clear the right of informational privacy."

"As data-security experts will tell you, widespread distribution of individual data elements in multiple separate repositories is one way to reduce the vulnerability of the overall database."

"I am not a fan of providing any data to the commission in Washington... I just don't want to facilitate the providing of that information to a federal database."

"Generally, all states provide the name and address of the registered voter. From there it gets complicated."

"A centralized national database of state voter records is contrary to principles of federalism and local control. Moreover, the collection of personal data is unreasonable and therefore implicates sacred constitutional rights. The program should simply end."

"Indiana law doesn't permit the Secretary of State to provide the personal information requested by Secretary Kobach."

"Moreover, merging data from multiple sources can, if not properly handled, undermine the accuracy of the voter registration data."

"the request for partial Social Security Numbers that are often used as default passwords for commercial services, coupled with the Commission's plan to make such information publicly available, is both without precedent and crazy. "

"Absent a prohibition from this Court, the Commission will begin collecting and aggregating the sensitive, personal information of voters across the country without establishing any procedures to protect voter privacy or the security and integrity of the state voter data."

"I am going to safeguard the privacy of Wyoming's voters because of my strong belief in a citizen's right of privacy."

"It is my opinion that 'safe.amrdec.army.mil' is not a secure website for the transfer of personal data."

"Under the E-Government Act of 2002, any agency initiating a new collection of information that (I) will be collected, maintained, or disseminated using information technology; and (II) includes any information in an identifiable form permitting the physical or online contacting of a specific individual is required to complete a privacy impact assessment (PIA) before initiating such collection."

"The data file will undergo a thorough review process to ensure confidential information is not included before it is sent by secure means to the Commission. The data file will be encrypted and password protected."

"Voters are, number one, upset and angry that their information was going to be sent to this commission."

"Election integrity depends on everything that might be compromised during the election process -- from the redistricting and gerrymandering to the registration process and registration data bases to the actual voting process (identification, authentication, vote casting, vote counting, canvassing, and perhaps most neglected of all, meaningful accountability, auditing, and nontrivial recounts where the results are either too close or suspect). At the moment, everything is a potential weak link. The privacy of voter data is important, and a good place for EPIC to focus on. However, everything else is also critical."

"Maine citizens can be confident that our office will not release any data that is protected under Maine law, to the commission or any other requesting entity."

"The request is simply too broad and includes sensitive information of Arkansas voters. "

"Even without state law not allowing the sharing of [Social Security Numbers, Driver License Numbers, and full date of birth], I personally would have concems with sharing such information."