How private is your voter registration information?

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

Postcards, flyers and other correspondence containing that message — or a variation of it — arrived in Southern California mailboxes as Election dayapproaches. The intention, according to the left-wing groups behind some of the emails, is to encourage people to participate in elections, especially those deemed to be “inconsistent”. voters.

Some emails included a reminder that Election Day is Tuesday, November 5.

Others were a little more personal — leaving voters wondering just how private their voter registration information is.

One letter, called a “ballot” and sent to California voters from the Voter Information Center in Washington, DC, includes 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 email to you and your neighbors to share who is voting and who is not, in an effort to promote turnout,” the letter said. “While we have withheld your neighbors’ names and street numbers to protect their privacy, these are their real voting records.

“We will review these records after the election to determine whether or not you joined your neighbors in voting.”

While the Voter Information Center bills itself as a nonpartisan group that aims to help people register to vote and participate in elections, it has spent money to support Democratic candidates in past elections, including President Joe Biden in 2020. (FEC does not list any spending data for the group for this election cycle.)

This election cycle, it sent 7.1 million pieces of “this type of turnout mail” to 1.9 million voters, including 630,000 voters in Orange County, said Tom Lopach, the Center’s president and CEO of Voter Information, in a statement sent by e-mail. The group targeted voters who are people of color, single women and young people, as well as “Americans who share the values of representative government,” Lopach said.

“We have one primary mission and that is to encourage people to vote,” Lopach said. “If someone voted in the elections, it is a public record. As a civic engagement group, we use public records to help voters understand their voting records.”

What voter information is public

So what information is publicly available about voters?

Access to voter registration lists and the information that comes with them, varies from state to state.

In California, voter registration informationmaintained by the Secretary of State, may be accessed by candidates for federal, state, or local office; committees related to initiative or referendum measures; or persons who wish to use the information for electoral, governmental, journalistic, political or academic purposes, according to the Secretary of State.

A voter registration data file contains the voter’s name, date of birth, residence 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 method of voting, such as by mail or at a polling place.

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

Driver’s license numbers, social security numbers and signatures are also confidential and not disclosed.

There is an application process for those who want to obtain voter registration information, filed through either the secretary of state or a county.

The application, according to a copy from the Orange County Register of Voters, asks the applicant to detail how they would use the information and how they plan to keep it secure.

However, the use of voter file information is “limited only to the purposes listed and the use of the voter file to harass any voter or voter’s household as specified in the California Election Code … is unlawful,” Jordan Reilly, holder of word of the secretary of state. the state office said Thursday.

“We have received two reports of these types of messages and are conducting further review,” Reilly said. “The California voter record is not public and is considered confidential under state law. The information in the voter file can only be used for specific purposes, at the request of the secretary of state or a county election official.”

Increase turnout or intimidate?

Posts like the ones hitting 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 support 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 outreach group that works to mobilize Democrats.

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

That’s it one of the three options volunteers who handwrite postcard messages can choose from. It’s called “social pressure” messaging, 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 includes a URL that points to a website paid for by the Democratic National Committee that helps people register to vote and check ballot status, among other things. There is also information on the states’ voter line numbers.

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

Sign up for Down Ballot, our Southern California politics email newsletter. Subscribe here.It is unclear if any right-wing or Republican-affiliated groups are sending similar emails to voters in Southern California.

While the most effective get-out-the-vote strategy is person-to-person, Schnur said, these types of emails can also play on a person’s sense of belonging.

“We’re a tribal species, and we like to be reminded that we’re part of a group,” Schnur said. “We don’t want to feel left out, and this type of correspondence capitalizes on that concern.”

Posts can increase voter turnout, but they can also have an intimidating effect on voters, Schnur said.

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

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

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

While certain voter registration information may be available to successful applicants, the information may not be used to harass a voter or their household or to advertise, solicit, sell or market products or services to a voter or household him, according to the information. provided by Bob Page, Orange County Recorder.