Maryland House Bill 1212 - Voter Registration List - Right to Opt Out of the Sale of PII

[NJ2MDdude]

Originally Posted by North Beach Person

Can you give an example of the last?

There is a lot of case law out there pertaining to public records and what is and is not allowable.

Assuming any person can buy a list, then any non-governmental entity looking to pick my pocket. For example, a charity engaged in fundraising or a company selling insurance, offering protection for the water lines outside a home.

[North Beach Person]

Originally Posted by NJ2MDdude

Assuming any person can buy a list, then any non-governmental entity looking to pick my pocket. For example, a charity engaged in fundraising or a company selling insurance, offering protection for the water lines outside a home.

Lots of easier ways to get contact information for those things than dicking around with voter rolls.

[NJ2MDdude]

Originally Posted by North Beach Person

Lots of easier ways to get contact information for those things than dicking around with voter rolls.

Sure but voter rolls can provide volume/targeting and lays the groundword for further data mining from other sources.

[North Beach Person]

Originally Posted by NJ2MDdude

Sure but voter rolls can provide volume/targeting and lays the groundword for further data mining from other sources.

With voter rolls you're at best only capturing about 50% of the population. I think you're kind of mountain building with mole hills here.

https://elections.maryland.gov/voter...intenance.html

In Maryland it's a misdemeanor for the voter lists to be used for non-electoral reasons:
https://www.ncsl.org/elections-and-c...stration-lists

Which may be why the Legislature didn't adopt the legislation you asked about.

[NJ2MDdude]

Originally Posted by North Beach Person

With voter rolls you're at best only capturing about 50% of the population. I think you're kind of mountain building with mole hills here.

https://elections.maryland.gov/voter...intenance.html

In Maryland it's a misdemeanor for the voter lists to be used for non-electoral reasons:
https://www.ncsl.org/elections-and-c...stration-lists

Which may be why the Legislature didn't adopt the legislation you asked about.

Thanks for the clarification.

[westsideboy]

The idea of "secret voters" whose names and addresses are hidden from public view is a horrible idea. If you wish to be a voter, you are "on the roll" as they say, subject to review and scrutiny (as it were) from your fellow citizens. Anyone of us can go purchase a copy of the voter roll (adm. fee to acquire, digital files these days) and review all the voters in the entire state.

The data can be broken down by age, gender, race, voting history, party registration, etc. Without this data, you would never know if women and minorities are underrepresented or if voters in specific geographic regions have lower turnout. This data can be purely academic, but it can also reveal systematic voter suppression. I'll add a candidate who wishes to serve his voters would have a difficult time doing it without knowing who they are and being able to contact them. A transparent electoral system must have a transparent list of participants.

It's already against the law to use the voter roll for commercial purposes.

[North Beach Person]

Originally Posted by westsideboy

The idea of "secret voters" whose names and addresses are hidden from public view is a horrible idea. If you wish to be a voter, you are "on the roll" as they say, subject to review and scrutiny (as it were) from your fellow citizens. Anyone of us can go purchase a copy of the voter roll (adm. fee to acquire, digital files these days) and review all the voters in the entire state.

The data can be broken down by age, gender, race, voting history, party registration, etc. Without this data, you would never know if women and minorities are underrepresented or if voters in specific geographic regions have lower turnout. This data can be purely academic, but it can also reveal systematic voter suppression. I'll add a candidate who wishes to serve his voters would have a difficult time doing it without knowing who they are and being able to contact them. A transparent electoral system must have a transparent list of participants.

It's already against the law to use the voter roll for commercial purposes.

You've touched on something about knowing "who" is voting.

I live in one of the jurisdictions that had historically allowed non-resident property owners to vote. Even today, over 35 years after a Federal Court threw that out, we still have non-residents try to vote. They're usually caught by the poll workers but there are always a couple that slip by and a poll watcher flags them. That poll watcher couldn't do that without a registration list that lists all the names.

We also have people who live outside Town limits but with a Town mailing address try to vote. Some don't understand the difference between a chartered municipality and a post office designation. You likely have the same problem in a couple of your Towns out there.