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Oregon Private Voter Information Initiative (2018)
| Oregon Private Voter Information Initiative | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Election date November 6, 2018 | |
| Topic Constitutional rights | |
| Status Not on the ballot | |
| Type State statute | Origin Citizens |
The Oregon Private Voter Information Initiative was not on the ballot in Oregon as an initiated state statute on November 6, 2018.
The measure would have provided that private voter information may not be released to the public or private third parties without the expressed written consent of the voter.[1]
Text of measure
Full text
The full text of the measure is as follows:[1]
Section 1. The People of Oregon enact the Voter Privacy Act to allow personal control of the release of their Private Voter Information to reduce opportunities for identity theft and/or unwanted attention during election periods. Sections 2-6 of this Act shall be added to Chapter 247 of the Oregon Revised Statutes for the protection of people registered to vote under its provisions. Section 2. Private Voter Information shall not be released to the public or otherwise made available for the private use of third parties without the express written consent of the voter. The State Elections Office shall create a Voter Privacy Waiver Form allowing voters to selectively permit the public release of any or all categories of their Private Voter Information. Voter Privacy Waiver Forms cannot be processed without first authenticating the voter’s signature from the Voter Registration Database. Section 3. “Private Voter Information” is information in the voter registration database that indicates a voter’s: a) Birthdate (month and day), b) phone number, c) email address or d) ballot status information. “Ballot status information” is information indicating whether or not an elections office has received or processed a ballot from an identified voter during the period between the mailing of that ballot and the corresponding deadline to vote. Section 4. This Act shall not be construed to prevent an election official from personally informing a voter of the receipt or processing status of that voter’s ballot during an election. A voter may obtain personal ballot status information in person or by telephone upon providing information that reasonably identifies that person as the voter to an elections worker. Election officials may implement an online access system that permits voters to individually view their own ballot status information so long as it is designed to prevent the unauthorized release of Private Voter Information to third parties. Elections officials must expressly prohibit and take appropriate steps to restrict third parties from conducting bulk queries or multiple serial inquiries for Private Voter Information. Section 5. This Act does not prevent the release of voter registration data that includes voter participation information in prior elections. This Act shall not prevent the transfer of voter registration data to an agency of the federal government to demonstrate compliance with federal election regulations. Section 6. All government custodians of voter registration information shall comply with this Act within 120 days of its passage. Thereafter, any public official who intentionally releases or assists in the release of Private Voter Information to unauthorized persons in violation of this Act shall be guilty of a Class A misdemeanor. Any person who uses artifice attempting to gain unauthorized access of ballot status information for three or more voters shall be guilty of a Class A Misdemeanor and subject to a minimum fine of $500 or $25 per voter, whichever is greater. Section 7. If any portion of this Act should be rendered invalid by a court of competent jurisdiction, such portion shall be severed and the remaining portions shall remain in full force and effect. |
Path to the ballot
Richard Taylor Whitehead filed the proposal with the Oregon secretary of state on November 2, 2016.[2] Oregon requires that 1,000 signatures be submitted before a ballot title is drafted.
Petitioners were required to collect 88,184 valid signatures to get their initiated state statute on the ballot. Signatures for initiatives needed to be submitted four months prior to the election on November 6, 2018, which was July 6, 2018. Proponents of the measure did not submit signatures before the signature deadline.[3]
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Oregon Secretary of State, "Complete Text of Initiative," November 2, 2016
- ↑ Oregon Secretary of State, "Initiative 8," accessed November 11, 2016
- ↑ Ballotpedia Staff Writer, Telephone communication with Oregon Secretary of State's office, July 9, 2018.
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State of Oregon Salem (capital) |
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