Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Voter Registration Privacy topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Senate passes bill to shield online registrants’ email addresses from public records
Summary
The Utah Senate unanimously passed SB 18 to let the lieutenant governor’s office remove email addresses collected through online voter registration from public records, extending privacy protections previously limited to military registrants; the measure passed by voice and roll-call and goes to the House.
Senator Margaret Dayton, sponsor of SB 18, told the Senate the bill extends to the general public the privacy protections previously afforded to military registrants who register online. “This bill does the same thing for the general citizenry and comes to us at the request of the lieutenant governor's office to protect the email privacy of citizens who choose to register online,” Dayton said.
During floor questioning Senator Romero asked whether the measure could be made voluntary so that registrants who want to share email addresses for contact purposes could do so; Dayton said the lieutenant governor’s office could retain an option for individuals who want their email available to specific parties or lists but the bill allows the office to eliminate email addresses from public records without obligating disclosure.
Senator Valentine raised related privacy concerns about birth dates being public records; Dayton said that issue is likely to be addressed separately in additional legislation. Dayton waived summation and moved final passage; a roll-call vote recorded 28 yeas, 0 nays and 1 absence, and SB 18 passed and will be forwarded to the House for their action.
The bill, as explained on the floor, does not require agencies other than the lieutenant governor’s office to take unrelated privacy steps; senators asked about voluntary disclosure mechanics and about whether other personal identifying fields (for example, birth dates) should receive the same treatment, but Dayton said those are distinct items to be addressed in subsequent bills.
