Confidential Voter Data

The street address, telephone number, driver’s license (or identification card) number, precinct number and certain other information about registered voters is confidential under California law, and the Elections Office is prohibited from publicly disclosing that information to any person except as described below.

--The Elections Office may disclose confidential voter information to any candidate for federal, state, or local office,

--Any authorized committee for or against any initiative, referendum, recall or bond measure for which legal publication is made.

--Any person for election, scholarly, journalistic, or political purposes, and

--Any person for governmental purposes, as determined by the Secretary of State. (California Elections Code Sections 2187, 2188, and 2194)

The Elections Office is not permitted to release confidential voter registration information to private attorneys, private investigators and process servers.

What do I need to do to order confidential voter data?

Before the Elections Office may publicly disclose confidential voter information to a requester, the requester must complete and sign, under penalty of perjury, an Application for Voter Registration Information Form, and include the following:

The information required on the Application, including but not limited to:

--Requester’s personal information,

--Description of the data being requested,

--Intended use of data

--If the requester submits an application on behalf of another person or organization, the requester must also include the following: The name of the person, organization, company, committee, association or group requesting the voter registration information, including their complete mailing address and telephone number. The name of the person authorizing or requesting the application to obtain voter registration information. A letter on the letterhead of the candidate/organization stating that they are aware that voter registration information is being requested on their behalf by the person submitting the application.

--A copy of the requester’s driver's license, state identification card or other identification approved by the Secretary of State.

--Payment for the cost of the file/data (cash, check or money order), AND

--Provision for shipping and/or delivery, either in payment for shipping costs (providing your FedEx account number is recommended) or instructions as to how to deliver data (for example, how to notify requester when data is available for pickup).

Warning for misuse of confidential data

It is a misdemeanor to misuse or permit the misuse of confidential voter registration information. (California Elections Code, Division 17 Penal Provisions, Section 18109; Title 2, Division 7, Article 1, Section 19001 - 19007 of California Administrative Code)

The requester agrees to pay the State of California, or the source agency, as compensation for any UNAUTHORIZED USE OF EACH INDIVIDUAL’S REGISTRATION INFORMATION an amount equal to the sum of fifty cents ($.50) multiplied by the number of times each registration record is used by the Applicant in an unauthorized manner.

The information (or a portion or copy thereof) cannot be sold, leased, loaned, or given to any person, organization or agency, without first receiving written authorization to do so from the Secretary of State or the county elections official.

How long will it take to get the data I request?

Requests received at the counter for voter and/or election data can typically be made available within 24 hours. Requests received through the mail are typically available for next day shipping. These timeframes are not guaranteed. Speed of service depends upon staff availability. If your request is urgent, it is recommended you communicate the urgency to staff and follow up all requests with a phone call to (559) 839-2100.

Payment

Payment can be made in the form of cash, check, or money order. We do not accept credit cards or debit cards at this time.