An Act Regarding the Central Voter Registration System
Maine Legislature, Session 123, LD 1921
Amends: 21-A MRSA §195, 21-A MRSA §196

Legislative Document 
No. 1921 
H.P. 1358 
House of Representatives, June 7,2007 
An Act Regarding the Central Voter Registration System 
(EMERGENCY) 
Reported by Representati ve PATRICK of Rumford for the Joint Standing Committee on 
Legal and Veterans Affairs pursuant to Joint Order 2007, H.P. 1329. 
Pnnted on recycled paper 
77/~ 
frl·711dC~ 
MILLICENT M. MacFARLAND 
Clerk 
Emergency preamble. Whereas, acts and resolves of the Legislature do not 
become effective until 90 days after adjournment unless enacted as emergencies; and 
Whereas, the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 21-A governs the conduct of statewide 
elections in the State, including requirements for use and distribution of information from 
the central voter registration system; and 
Whereas, changes to the requirements for the central voter registration system must 
be in place as soon as possible in order for the Secretary of State to properly administer 
these laws and produce statewide and district voter lists and files and for the municipal 
election officials to produce municipal voter lists and files for dissemination to the public 
lOin support of campaigns for federal, state and local offices; and 
Whereas, in the judgment of the Legislature, these facts create an emergency within 
the meaning of the Constitution of Maine and require the following legislation as 
immediately necessary for the preservation of the public peace, health and safety; now, 
therefore, 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1. 21-A MRSA §195, as amended by PL 2005, c. 453, §44, 1S further 
amended to read: 
§ 195. Report 
The Secretary of State shall report annually, by March 1 st, to the joint standing 
committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over voter registration matters on the 
progress of the implemefttation of lfte administration of the central voter registration 
system developed pursuant to this subchapter. The report may include public access to 
the information from the central voter registration system, taking into consideration the 
compelling state interests to prevent voter fraud and the potential disenfranchisement of 
voters and to ensure that voters are not discouraged from participating in the voting 
process. 
The report may include suggested legislation necessary to implement or 
administer the central voter registration system. 
The committee may report out 
legislation regarding the central voter registration system to the Legislature during the 
Sec. 2. 21-A MRSA §196, as enacted by PL 2005, c. 404, §2 and amended c. 568, 
§ 10, is further amended to read: 
§196. Use and distribution of central voter registration information 
For the purposes of Title 1, section 402, information contained electronically in the 
central voter registration system and any printed reports generated by the system that 
contain both the name of a voter and that voter's voter identification or voter record 
number are confidential and may be accessed only by municipal and state election 
officials except as provided in this section. 
1.. Individual voter records. 
An individual voter may obtain a copy of any 
information contained in that voter's record within the central voter registration system 
either from the registrar in the voter's municipality of residence or from the Secretary of 
State. The following information must be made available to the individual voter upon 
request and free of charge: the voter's name, residence address, mailing address, 
enrollment status, electoral district, date of birth, voter record number, signature and voter 
status and any voter identification numbers; the last election in which the voter 
participated; any designation that the voter cast a challenged or absentee ballot in the last 
election; and any special designation indicating whether the voter is a uniformed service 
voter, an overseas voter or township voter. The voter may obtain copies of any additional 
information in the voter's registration record within the central voter registration system 
for a fee of $1 for the first page and 25¢ per page for any additional pages. 
2. Voter lists or reports identifying voters. A person may purchase a list or report 
of voter information containing some or all of the information from the central voter 
registration system by making a request to the Secretary of State or to a municipal 
registrar if the information requested concerns voters in that municipality. The Secretary 
of State or the municipal registrar shall make available the following information, subject 
to the fees set forth in subsection 4 and the restrictions on use and redistribution of data 
set forth in subsection 7: the voter's name, residence address, mailing address, date of 
birth, enrollment status, electoral district, voter status, the date of registration or the date 
of change of the voter record if applicable, voter participation in previous elections 
including whether the voter cast a challenged or absentee ballot~ aHd voter record number, 
any ,,'oter identificatioa aumbers and any special designations indicating uniformed 
service voters, overseas voters or township voters. In addition, municipal clerks or 
registrars shall make available upon request the list of persons who requested or were 
furnished absentee ballots created and maintained pursuant to section 753-B subject to the 
fees set forth in subsection 4 for printed lists and free of charge for electronic lists. 
3. Other reports. Any other reports generated from the central voter registration 
system, including reports that contain both the name of a voter and that voter's ¥eter 
identification aumber or voter record number that indicate whether the voter has voted or 
changed enrollment status, may be obtained from the Secretary of State upon request, or 
from a municipal registrar if the information requested concerns voters in that 
municipality, subject to the fees set forth in subsection 4 of this section but not subject to 
the restrictions on use and redistribution of data in subsection 7. 
4. Fees. The fee for information provided pursuant to this sectioa in electroaic form 
is 5¢ per record for up to 100 records and 1 ¢ per record for any additioaal records 
requested. The fee for information provided ia printed form is $1 for the first page aad 
25¢ per page for all additional pages, except that the fee for additional pages of mailing 
labels is 50¢ per page. For the purpose of calculating fees pursuant to this section, a 
record includes the information on one individual voter. Fees paid to the Secretary of 
State must be deposited into a dedicated fund to offset the cost of providing the 
information and maintaining the central voter registration system. 
Municipalities A 
municipality may provide any of the iaforrnation coatained ia the iacoming votiag list to 
requestors free of charge keep the fees paid to the municipality. The fee for information 
provided pursuant to this section is as follows: 
A. The fee for infonnation provided in printed fonn is $1 for the first page and 25¢ 
per page for all additional pages, except that the fee for additional pages of mailing 
labels is 75¢ per page; and 
B. The fee for infonnation provided in electronic fonn is based on the number of 
records requested. The fee entitles the requestor to receive the initial electronic 
report or file and, upon request, up to 4 updates free of charge during the subsequent 
12-month period, except that no more than one free update may be requested during 
the 30 days prior to an election. The fee schedule is as follows: 
(1) For 900,001 or more voter records, $2,000; 
(2) For 600,001 to 900,000 voter records. $1,500; 
(3) For 400,001 to 600,000 voter record, $1,000; 
(4) For 250,001 to 400,000 voter records, $750; 
(5) For 150,001 to 250,000 voter records, $500; 
(6) For 100,001 to 150,000 voter records, $250; 
(7) For 75,001 to 100,000 voter records, $200; 
(8) For 50,001 to 75,000 voterrecords, $165; 
(9) For 35,001 to 50,000 voter records, $125; 
(10) For 25,001 to 35,000 voter records, $75; 
(11) For 15,001 to 25,000 voter records, $50; 
(12) For 7,501 to 15,000 voter records, $30; 
(13) For 1,001 to 7,500 voterrecords, $20; or 
(14) For 1 to 1,000 voter records, $10. 
Municipalities may provide any of the infonnation contained in the incoming voting list 
to requestors free of charge. 
5. 
Supplemental information for candidates. Any candidate in a primary or 
general election for a state or federal office who has purchased a list or report of voter 
infonnation for registered voters in that municipality from the central voter registration 
system pursuant to this section is entitled to obtain a list of all additions, deletions and 
changes to the purchased list or report for the following periods of time upon request and 
free of charge, except that the candidate may not request or receive the free updates more 
than once per 30-day period. 
A. 
A candidate in a primary election is entitled to the list of additions, deletions and 
changes under this subsection from the time of becoming a declared candidate in that 
primary election until the day of the primary election. A candidate who is nominated 
in that primary election to be a candidate in the general election is entitled to those 
additions, deletions and changes from the day of the primary until the day of the 
general election. 
B. 
A candidate in a general election is entitled to the list of additions, deletions and 
changes under this subsection from the time of becoming a declared candidate in that 
general election until the day of the general election. 
6. Response to requests. Municipal registrars and the Secretary of State's office 
shall respond to all requests for information from the central voter registration system 
pursuant to this section within 5 business days of receipt of a written request and upon 
payment of any applicable fee. 
A municipal registrar may only provide information 
concerning voters registered within that municipal jurisdiction. The Secretary of State 
may design a form to be used for public requests for information or lists from the central 
voter registration system. 
7. Restrictions on use and redistribution of data. Information obtained from the 
central voter registration system pursuant to this section may not be used for any 
commercial purpose, including, but not limited to, the sales and marketing of products 
and services, or for solicitations of any kind not directly related to activities of a political 
party, so-called "get out the vote" efforts or activities directly related to a campaign as 
defined in section 1052. 
Any person obtaining information from the central voter 
registration system is prohibited from selling or distributing it to others to use for 
commercial purposes and also is prohibited from making publicly available the dates of 
birth or mailing addresses of individual voters. This subsection does not prohibit political 
parties, party conunittees, candidate committees, political action committees or any other 
organizations that have purchased information from the central voter registration system 
from providing access to such illformation to their members for purposes directly related 
to party activities, ,:get out the vote': efforts or a campaign as defined in section lQ52. 
This subsection also does not prohibit private vendors from using information obtained 
from the central voter registration system to perform services for a political party. "get 
out the vote" effort or campaign. For purposes of this subsection, "campaign" has the 
same meaning as in section 1052. 
8. Limited access for law enforcement purposes. Any information pertaining to 
individual voters, other than Address Confidentiality Program participants, that is 
contained in the central voter registration system may be made available free of charge to 
a law enforcement officer or agency that makes a written request to use the information 
for a bona fide law enforcement purpose or to a person identified by a court order if 
directed by that order. 
Information pertaining to individual voters who are Address 
Confidentiality Program participants that is contained in the central voter registration 
system may be made available for inspection to a law enforcement agency that is 
authorized by the Secretary of State pursuant to Title 5, section 90-B to obtain Address 
Confidentiality Program information. 
9. Seeretary of State to rellort. By March 15, 2007, the Secretary of State shall 
issue a report to the joint standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over 
voter registration matters, induding suggested legislation, with regard to public access to 
I 
the infurmation from the central voter registration system, taking into consideration the 
compelling state interests to prevent voter fraud and the potential disenfranchisement of 
voters and to ensure that '>'oters are not discouraged from participating in the voting 
process. 
The committee is authoriZied to introduce legislation based on information 
contained in the report to the First Regular Session of the 123rd Legislature. 
10. Disclosure of address. A voter's address that is excluded from public inspection 
pursuant to section 22, subsection 3, paragraph B may be made available free of charge to 
a law enforcement officer or agency that makes a written request to use the information 
for a bona fide law enforcement purpose or to a person identified by a court order if 
directed by that order. 
This section is repealed September 30, ~ 
2009. 
Emergency clause. 
In view of the emergency cited m the preamble, this 
legislation takes effect when approved. 
SUMMARY 
This bill is a Joint Standing Committee on Legal and Veterans Affairs bill pursuant to 
joint order. 
It amends the laws governing the central voter registration system by 
consolidating 2 reports due annually in March to the joint standing committee of the 
Legislature having jurisdiction over voter registration. It amends the fee system for the 
purchase of electronic records from the central voter registration system by reducing the 
cost and establishing new fees more in line with what other states charge for such records. 
Finally, in recognition of the delayed implementation of the central voter registration 
system, the bill extends the date of a sunset provision that was enacted to allow for 
limited exceptions to the public records law by allowing some electronic data to be 
confidential.