Current through Register Vol. 54, No. 52, December 28, 2024
(a) Subject to the exceptions in subsection
(c), a commission or the Department will provide replies to inquiries
concerning individual registrants that are submitted on a form prescribed by
the Department. The list will reflect voter activity reported to the commission
and the Department within 30 days preceding an election. The commission and the
Department will prepare updates to the list on at least a biweekly basis. With
respect to the inquiry, the commission or the Department will provide the
following information:
(1) The name of the
registrant.
(2) The address of the
registrant.
(3) The date of birth
of the registrant.
(4) The voting
history of the registrant.
(b) A commission and the Department will make
copies of the public information lists available for public inspection during
business hours, subject to reasonable safeguards, including:
(1) A commission and the Department will
maintain a form prescribed by the Department that includes the name, address
and telephone number of an individual who inspects or obtains a copy of the
public information list, as well as verification that a commission or
Department official confirmed the identification of the individual requesting
access to the list or its duplication. This form will not be available for
public inspection or copying.
(2)
No individual inspecting the public information list may tamper with, alter,
destroy or remove it from the premises of a commission or the
Department.
(3) A commission and
the Department will require that a commissioner or an authorized commission or
Department employee is able to observe the record or document at all times
while it is being inspected and safeguard it against alteration, destruction or
removal.
(4) No individual who
inspects the public information list, obtains a copy of the public information
list or who acquires names of registrants from the list may use the information
contained in the list for purposes unrelated to elections, political activities
or law enforcement, as required by section 1404(b)(3) and (c)(2) of the act
(relating to public information lists).
(5) Before inspecting the public information
list or obtaining names of registered electors or other information from the
list, the individual shall provide identification to the public official having
custody of the public information list and shall state in writing on a form
prescribed by the Department that any information obtained from the list will
not be used for purposes unrelated to elections, political activities or law
enforcement, as required by section 1404(b)(3) and (c)(2) of the act.
(c) The following items may not be
made available for public inspection or photocopying:
(1) The signature of a registrant or
applicant, as provided at section 1404(a) of the act.
(2) The identity of a voter registration
agency through which a registrant is registered, as provided by
42 U.S.C.A. §
1973gg-6(a)(6), known as the National Voter
Registration Act.
(3) The
registrant's unique identifier, a registrant's or applicant's driver's license
number and the last four digits of a registrant's or applicant's Social
Security number.
(4) The home
addresses of the following categories of applicants or registrants submitting
proof of their employment, who may provide an alternate mailing address, such
as an office address, under section 1327(a)(1)(iii) of the act (relating to
preparation and distribution of applications), which the commission shall then
make available to the public on public information lists. A commission shall
adopt procedures designed to ensure that the confidentiality of these home
addresses is maintained. A commission shall inform the Department of the home
address designated as confidential under this section. A request may be
submitted at any time and shall be subject to renewal in accordance with
subsection (f).
(i) "Peace officers," as
defined in
18 Pa.C.S. §
501 (relating
to definitions), including "parole officers," as defined in the act of August
6, 1941 ( P. L. 861, No. 323) (61 P. S. §
331.27) and "Federal law enforcement
officers," as defined in 18
U.S.C.A. §
115(c)(1);
(ii) "Correctional employees," as defined in
section 2 of the Police Officer, Firefighter, Correction Employee and National
Guard Member Child Beneficiary Education Act (24 P. S. §
7202), and correction officers, as defined in
71 Pa.C.S. §
5102
(relating to definitions).
(iii)
"Judicial officials," as defined in
18 Pa.C.S. §
4953.1(c) (relating to
retaliation against prosecutor or judicial official) and United States judges,
as defined in 18 U.S.C.A. §
115(c)(3).
(iv) All state prosecutors, as defined at
18 Pa.C.S. §
4953.1(c), and investigators
employed by prosecutors, including prosecutors and investigators employed by
the Attorney General.
(5) The home addresses of the following
categories of applicants, qualified electors or registrants, who may apply in
writing on a form approved by the Department to the commission to be permitted
to provide an alternate mailing address, such as an office address, under
section 1327(a)(1)(iii) of the act, which the commission shall then make
available to the public on public information lists. The commission, in
determining whether to grant the request for confidentiality of the home
address, shall consider the explanation provided, review the documentation
submitted and verify, to the extent possible, the veracity of the explanation
and documentation. Once a commission decides to make the home address of a
registrant confidential, the commission shall promptly inform the registrant
and the Department of the home address designated as confidential under this
section. A commission shall adopt procedures for ensuring that the
confidentiality of the home addresses of these registrants is maintained. A
request may be submitted at any time and shall be subject to renewal in
accordance with subsection (f).
(i)
Individuals who have received Protection from Abuse orders for their own
personal safety, in accordance with
23 Pa.C.S. §
§
6102 and
6108 (relating to
definitions; and relief).
(ii)
Individuals who have been granted a protection order due to being stalked, or
who have been a victim of the crime of stalking when the defendant has been
convicted of stalking, as defined in
18 Pa.C.S. §
2709(b) (relating to
harassment and stalking).
(iii)
Other individuals who can demonstrate that their personal safety is endangered
by revealing their home address.
(6) The Deceased Voters List, which is
received by the commission from the Department of Health in accordance with
section 1505 of the act (relating to death of registrant).
(d) For those registrants choosing to provide
an alternate mailing address under subsection (c)(4) and (5) and for those
registrants granted permission by the commission to provide an alternate
mailing address, a commission shall inform the registrants that they shall
notify the commission within 30 days of any change in their status and the
consequences for their failure to do so. If a registrant does not inform the
commission within 30 days of a change in the registrant's status, the
commission may publish the registrant's home address on a public information
list without following the requirements in subsection (f). The commission shall
review at least biannually the home addresses designated as confidential under
this section and report to the registrant and the Department any changes that
it makes to these records. The commission and its employees shall be immune
from prosecution if they negligently release the confidentiality of a home
address for those registrants listed in subsection (c)(4) and (5).
(e) The commission shall grant access to a
registrant's home address that is considered confidential under subsection
(c)(4) or (5), if the information is requested by a law enforcement agency or
Federal or State court.
(f) If a
commission decides to rescind the confidentiality of a home address for a
registrant based upon information received from the registrant provided under
subsection (d), the commission shall notify the registrant and provide the
registrant the opportunity to do one of the following:
(1) Address the commission in writing or in
person.
(2) Rescind the
registrant's voter registration.
(g) When a commission rejects an application
under subsection (f), the registrant may appeal the decision to the court of
common pleas in the county in which the registrant resides.
(h) During SURE system conversion periods or
emergency conditions, access to the list may be postponed
temporarily.
(i) Within 10 days of
receiving a written request accompanied by the payment of the cost of
reproduction and postage, the Department or a commission will distribute the
public information list to any registrant in this Commonwealth for a reasonable
fee, determined by the office providing the copies, as provided by section
1404(c)(1) of the act (relating to public information lists).
(j) The Department and a commission will
supply the public information list in a paper copy or in an electronic
format.
(k) The list may not be
published on the Internet.
This section cited in 4 Pa. Code §
183.10 (relating to standardized
forms); 4 Pa. Code §
183.11 (relating to records); and 4
Pa. Code §
183.12 (relating to retention of
records).
