When you are a confidential voter, for voter registration purposes this means that your registration information, including past participation data, will not appear on a voter roll. Having confidential status for most people means that you are a survivor of domestic violence or have a reasonable belief that you’re being stalked and have enrolled in the Safe at Home program administered by the Secretary of State. Peace officers, healthcare workers, judges, and elections officials also have the right to become confidential voters.
Assembly Bill 1392 provides that elected officials and candidates may also have confidential status for the duration of their candidacy (ending when the winner takes office) or time in office. Only those who have a bona fide journalistic or governmental purpose will have access to your voter registration information.
Just to you. If you have specific concerns about members in your household, please contact our office.
No. Confidential status, if you choose to be a confidential voter, will last only as long as you hold office or for as long as you are a candidate. For candidates, confidentiality ends when the winner takes office. If you are the winning candidate, you may remain confidential for the duration of your time in office if you choose.
In most circumstances, the list of registered voters is not accessible to the public. However, a member of the public may complete an application to purchase a voter roll. The requester must have a lawful purpose for purchasing a voter roll – it must be for a political, election, scholarly, journalistic, or governmental purpose. Political parties, for example, routinely purchase voter rolls to get out the vote, educate voters about upcoming elections, and encourage participation in party events. Candidates similarly purchase voter rolls to educate voters about their campaigns.
Confidential voters never appear on a voter roll. However, AB 1392 provides an exception for most who are confidential as a result of their elected position or candidacy. (California judges and elected peace officers are an exception.) Requesters must have a bona fide journalistic or government purpose to obtain any voter registration and participation history about you should you choose to be confidential.
A journalistic purpose includes members of the press who want information to report on anything related to political or election activities. When they apply, the requester must submit a clear copy of their press pass or media credential. In the event the requester does not have a press pass or media credential, they must submit other evidence that they are a journalist. Our staff will determine whether any submitted press passes, media credentials, or other evidence properly establish a journalistic purpose.
A governmental purpose includes any request from a governmental agency or for a use related to a governmental function. The staff at the Marin County Elections Department, for example, will be able to see your voter registration data and participation history because we must verify your residency qualifications for the office you seek and ensure that you receive a ballot.
For more information, please refer to state regulations outlining the rules for access to voter registration data, found in the California Code of Regulations Title 2, Division 7, Chapter 1, Article 1
Please provide our office with a mailing address that is not your residential address. If you do not have a separate mailing address, we can use your business address.
When completing your declaration of candidacy and other nomination papers, please do not include your residential address. Rather, our staff will write in “verified” in the spot normally reserved for your address. If you choose to sign and/or circulate your own Petition In Lieu of Filing Fee, we will make sure that your contact information remains confidential.
Under AB 1392, you must alert the elections official if you move to another county and have confidential status. If you move within the county, our office will maintain your confidential status.
If your political opponent has applied for confidential status, you may not get residency information through the purchase of a voter roll. Our staff are able to verbally verify whether or not the candidate meets the residency requirement.
If you decide that you’d like to have confidential status, please help us ensure that we can maintain your status. When you re-register to vote, which might include any transaction at the Department of Motor Vehicles, all of your information will default to the most current registration, effectively “re-setting” your confidential status. If you re-register to vote at an event, if you move, or if you visit a voter registration agency like the DMV, please be sure to contact our office as soon as possible.
If you wish to participate in debates or public forums hosted by local or state organizations, our office cannot provide confidential contact information to those organizations. You will have to proactively reach out to those groups if you wish to participate, or else miss the opportunity to join in a debate or public forum.
If you wish to vote in person, the poll worker cannot look you up in the electronic roster at the voting location. It is Marin County’s policy that temporary employees—including election workers—should never have access to confidential voter information. Only certain members of the permanent elections staff may access confidential voter information. The Elections Department’s policy is that there’s only some people who need to know who is a confidential voter, and they are those who have extensive, senior level knowledge of election laws and procedures.
Most confidential voters are survivors of domestic violence and stalking. By way of their status, they typically do not show up in person to vote for fear of having an unpleasant encounter. The processes that help us maintain the voter roll assume that confidential voters will only vote by mail.
If you wish to vote in person and maintain your confidential status, please contact our office and we will assist you. If you do not contact our office, the poll worker cannot do more than offer you a same day registration or ask you to vote provisionally.
AB 1392 only applies to voter registration and candidate nomination papers. It does not include any filings from the Fair Political Practices Commission or other agency external of the Marin County Elections Department.