HR 1200: Secretary of State; continue to protect private and protected information contained in Georgia's voter registration list; urge

House Resolution 1200

By: Representatives Gisler of the 121st, Draper of the 90th, Roberts of the 52nd, Tran of the 80th, Olaleye of the 59th, and others

A RESOLUTION

Urging the Georgia Secretary of State to continue to protect private and protected information contained in Georgia's voter registration list from an unwarranted request from the United States Department of Justice to produce unredacted copies of such voter registration list; and for other purposes.

WHEREAS, Congress enacted the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) and the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) in an effort to ensure that all 50 states and other jurisdictions have effective and secure voter registration programs, both of which are critical to ensuring free and fair elections for local, state, and federal offices; and

WHEREAS, NVRA requires states, including Georgia, to collect and retain certain records of personally identifying information, including dates of birth, drivers' license numbers, and the last four digits of the social security numbers of persons registering to vote; and

WHEREAS, Georgia law, in Code Section 21-2-225, provides that such personally identifying information in the voter registration list shall be kept in a confidential manner by the Secretary of State and may only be disclosed to certain state and federal officials under specific defined circumstances related to voter roll maintenance and the registration of voters; and

WHEREAS, this past summer, the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice requested that numerous states, including Georgia, provide the Department with a full voter registration list, included unredacted confidential personally identifying information; and

WHEREAS, Georgia's Secretary of State has complied with the requirements of Georgia law to ensure that such confidential personally identifying information is protected and provided the Department of Justice with a redacted version of Georgia's voter registration list that maintained the confidentiality of personally identifying information of millions of Georgians; and

WHEREAS, the Department of Justice has persisted with its demand that the Secretary of State provide an unredacted copy of Georgia's voter registration list; and

WHEREAS, the Department of Justice has indicated that it will share any information it receives related to its request, including confidential personally identifying information, with officials of the federal government not tasked with enforcing federal election and voting rights law, and potentially even with private third parties; and

WHEREAS, the Georgia Secretary of State has joined chief elections officers in jurisdictions such as Colorado, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Mexico, Rhode Island, Washington, and the District of Columbia in refusing to disclose the confidential personally identifying information of voters to the Department of Justice; and

WHEREAS, if the confidential personally identifying information in Georgia's voter registration list is provided to the Department of Justice, incalculable harm could result to millions of Georgia voters.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES that the members of this body believe it would be a violation of Code Section 21-2-225 for the Secretary of State to provide the requested unredacted voter registration list to the Department of Justice.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the members of this body urge the Secretary of State to continue to protect confidential voter registration information as he is obligated and required to by Code Section 21-2-225, and to maintain his legal actions seeking to prevent the disclosure of the unredacted voter registration list to the Department of Justice. BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Clerk of the House of Representatives is authorized and directed to make appropriate copies of this resolution available for distribution to the Secretary of State, the members of the State Election Board, the President of the United States, the Attorney General of the United States, and the Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights.