Clerk: HB153 removed 'private' registration category; county handling ~300 'at‑risk' applications

At a public briefing, the County Clerk described how HB153 changed voter‑registration privacy categories and created an 'at‑risk' status for qualifying voters. Under the previous rules there were 'public,' 'private,' and 'withheld' categories; people who had been marked 'private' before May 12, 2020 were effectively grandfathered into a category that the Clerk said often left county officials without access to much of the voter roll.

HB153 removed the general 'private' designation and required the Lieutenant Governor to mail at‑risk‑status application packets to affected registrants. The Clerk said the county received roughly 300 applications, reviewed each, and placed them into three piles: about one‑third approved, one‑third denied, and about one‑third flagged as deficient because the mailed form did not include a required affidavit statement (the Clerk cited an exchange with the drafting attorney, Thomas Vaughn, who she said confirmed the affidavit language is required in statute and must appear on the form).

The Clerk said staff will work with the Lieutenant Governor’s office to resolve deficient applications and that the county is applying statutory requirements strictly: only those who submit the required affidavit and meet the listed qualifications (domestic‑violence survivor, law enforcement, armed forces, restraining‑order holder, etc.) will remain withheld; others have been moved to public rolls. She urged anyone receiving an at‑risk packet who believes they qualify to return the form by the stated deadline and said county review is ongoing.