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1997 SESSION

960327252
HOUSE BILL NO. 887
Offered January 22, 1996
A BILL to amend and reenact §§ 24.2-405, 24.2-407, 24.2-407.1 and 24.2-418 of the Code of Virginia and to repeal § 24.2-406 of the Code of Virginia, relating to lists of registered voters and persons voting in primaries and elections; penalty.
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Patrons-- Armstrong and Grayson
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Referred to Committee on Privileges and Elections
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Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. That §§ 24.2-405, 24.2-407, 24.2-407.1 and 24.2-418 of the Code of Virginia are amended and reenacted as follows:

§ 24.2-405. Persons who may obtain lists of registered voters and persons voting at primaries and elections.

A. The State Board shall furnish, at a reasonable price, lists of registered voters for their districts and lists of persons who have voted at any primary or general election held in the two preceding years to (i) courts of the Commonwealth and the United States for jury selection purposes, (ii) candidates for election or political party nomination to further their candidacy, (iii) political party committees or officials thereof for political purposes only, (iv) incumbent officeholders to report to their constituents, and (v) nonprofit organizations which promote voter participation and registration for that purpose only. The lists shall be furnished to no one else and used for no other purpose, except that the (ii) criminal justice agencies for criminal justice purposes, and (iii) any person for political or election purposes only. Nothing in this section shall prohibit any person authorized to receive such lists pursuant to this section from reselling or transferring such lists or any information obtained from them to another authorized recipient. Any person who uses or distributes these lists in violation of this subsection and has not signed an agreement statement as provided in § 24.2-407 shall be guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor.

B. Notwithstanding subsection A, the State Board is shall be authorized to furnish information from the voter registration system to general registrars for their official use.

C. In no event shall any list furnished under this section subsection A contain the social security number of any registered voter except a list furnished to a court of the Commonwealth or of the United States for jury selection purposes.

D. Any list furnished under this section subsection A shall contain the post office box address in lieu of the residence street address for any active or retired law-enforcement officer, as defined in § 9-169 and in 5 U.S.C.A. § 8331 (20) but excluding officers whose duties relate to detention as defined in paragraphs (A) through (D) of § 8331 (20), who has furnished at the time of registration or subsequently, in addition to his street address, a post office box address for his residence for use on such lists.

§ 24.2-407. Statement for persons receiving lists of persons registered or voting; penalties.

Any person receiving lists pursuant to § 24.2-405 or § 24.2-406 shall sign the following statement:

"I understand that the lists requested are the property of being purchased from the State Board of Elections of the Commonwealth of Virginia have restrictive uses, and I hereby state or agree, subject to felony penalties for making false statements pursuant to § 24.2-1016, that (i) I am a person authorized by § 24.2-405 or § 24.2-406 of the Code of Virginia to receive a copy of the lists described; (ii) the lists will be used only for the purposes prescribed and for no other use; and (iii) I will not permit the use or copying of the lists by persons not authorized by the Code of Virginia to obtain them.

Signature of Purchaser ................................................."

§ 24.2-407.1. Prohibition on disclosure of social security numbers.

It shall be unlawful for any person who has obtained, under § 24.2-405 or § 24.2-406 or any prior law, a list of persons registered or voting which contained social security numbers to disclose any voter's social security number to any other person. Any person maintaining a system containing social security numbers obtained from the Board shall delete or destroy the portion of his records containing those numbers.

§ 24.2-418. Application for registration.

Each applicant to register shall provide, subject to felony penalties for making false statements pursuant to § 24.2-1016, the information necessary to complete the application to register. Unless physically disabled, he shall sign the application. The application to register shall be only on a form or forms prescribed by the State Board.

The form of the application to register shall require the applicant to provide the following information: full name, including the maiden name and any other prior legal name; age; gender; date and place of birth; social security number, if any; whether the applicant is presently a United States citizen; address and place of abode and date of residence in the precinct; place of any previous registrations to vote; and whether the applicant has ever been adjudicated to be mentally incompetent or convicted of a felony, and if so, under what circumstances the applicant's right to vote has been restored.

The form shall permit any active or retired law-enforcement officer, as defined in § 9-169 and in 5 U.S.C.A. § 8331 (20) but excluding officers whose duties relate to detention as defined in paragraphs (A) through (D) of § 8331 (20), to furnish, in addition to his residence street address, a post office box address for his residence to be included in lieu of his street address on the lists of registered voters and persons who voted which are furnished pursuant to §§ 24.2-405 and 24.2-406.

2. That § 24.2-406 of the Code of Virginia is repealed.