Va. House votes to keep voter records closed

RICHMOND

The House of Delegates voted Wednesday to keep a tight hold on Virginians' personal voting histories, inviting litigation over whether the information should be made more widely available.

In its original form, Sen. Janet Howell's bill, SB624, would have given certain nonprofit organizations access to voter history lists. Those lists, kept by the State Board of Elections, don't show how anyone voted, but they do reveal who voted in which elections, including primaries.

Under current law, they are provided only to elected officials, candidates and political parties, who use them for targeted campaign mailings.

Howell's bill was introduced in response to a lawsuit brought by the Know Campaign, a nonprofit group that attempted to disseminate Virginians' voting histories in a get-out-the-vote campaign last fall.

The lawsuit, which challenged the current law on constitutional grounds, was settled pending a change in the law proposed by Howell, a Fairfax County Democrat.

But by the time the bill reached the House floor, it had been amended to prohibit release of the information to anyone.

Proponents of the amended bill said voters expect and are entitled to keep their voting histories private. Opponents said closing off all access to the lists would raise the cost of campaigning because candidates would no longer be able to tailor their mailing lists.

On a motion by Del. Terry Kilgore, R-Scott County, the House sent the bill back to a House committee that has no more scheduled meetings, effectively killing it for this legislative session.

It's clear lawmakers are closely divided on the issue, Kilgore said, so the matter would benefit from further study.

He acknowledged that leaving the law as it is will invite a re filing of the lawsuit.

"I say let the court case go forward," Kilgore said. "At least we'll get some clear guidance from the court."

Bill Sizemore, (804) 697-1560, bill.sizemore@pilotonline.com