Georgia Statutes § 21-2-225 Restrictions on public inspection of applications for voter registration and data on electors; membership of Secretary of State in nongovernmental entity for purpose of improving voter registration systems

Statute Text

(a) Neither the original applications for voter registration nor any copies thereof shall be open for public inspection except upon order of a court of competent jurisdiction.

(b) Except as provided in Code Section 21-2-225.1 , all data collected and maintained on electors whose names appear on the list of electors maintained by the Secretary of State pursuant to this article shall be available for public inspection with the exception of bank statements submitted pursuant to subsection (c) of Code Section 21-2-220 and subsection (c) of Code Section 21-2-417 , the month and day of birth, the social security numbers, email addresses, and driver's license numbers of the electors, and the locations at which the electors applied to register to vote, which shall remain confidential and shall be used only for voter registration purposes; provided, however, that any and all information relating to the dates of birth, social security numbers, and driver's license numbers of electors may be made available to other agencies of this state, to agencies of other states and territories of the United States, and to agencies of the federal government if the agency is authorized to maintain such information and the information is used only to identify the elector on the receiving agency's data base and is not disseminated further and remains confidential. Information regarding an elector's year of birth shall be available for public inspection.

(c) It shall be the duty of the Secretary of State to furnish copies of such data as may be collected and maintained on electors whose names appear on the list of electors maintained by the Secretary of State pursuant to this article, within the limitations provided in this article, on electronic media or computer run list or both. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, the Secretary of State shall establish the cost to be charged for such data. The Secretary of State may contract with private vendors to make such data available in accordance with this subsection. Such data may not be used by any person for commercial purposes.

(d)

(1) The Secretary of State may become a member of a nongovernmental entity whose purpose is to share and exchange information in order to improve the accuracy and efficiency of voter registration systems. The membership of the nongovernmental entity shall be composed solely of election officials of state and territorial governments of the United States, except that such membership may also include election officials of the District of Columbia.

(2) Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, the Secretary of State may share confidential and exempt information after becoming a member of such nongovernmental entity as provided in paragraph (1) of this subsection.

(3) The Secretary of State may become a member of such nongovernmental entity only if such entity is controlled and operated by the participating jurisdictions. The entity shall not be operated or controlled by the federal government or any other entity acting on behalf of the federal government. The Secretary of State must be able to withdraw at any time from any such membership in such nongovernmental entity.

(4) If the Secretary of State becomes a member of such nongovernmental entity, the Department of Driver Services shall, pursuant to an agreement with the Secretary of State, provide driver's license or identification card information related to voter eligibility to the Secretary of State for the purpose of sharing and exchanging voter registration information with such nongovernmental entity.

(5) Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, upon the Secretary of State becoming a member of a nongovernmental entity as provided in this subsection, information received by the Secretary of State from the nongovernmental entity is exempt from disclosure under Article 4 of Chapter 18 of Title 50 and any other provision of law. However, the Secretary of State may provide such information to the boards of registrars to conduct voter registration list maintenance activities.

History

Amended by 2023 Ga. Laws 353 , § 2 , eff. 7/1/2023 .

Amended by 2019 Ga. Laws 24 , § 7 , eff. 4/2/2019 .

Amended by 2011 Ga. Laws 240 , § 7 , eff. 7/1/2011 .

Amended by 2011 Ga. Laws 193 , § 1 , eff. 5/12/2011 .

Amended by 2010 Ga. Laws 632 , § 11 , eff. 7/1/2010 .

Amended by 2009 Ga. Laws 79 , § 1 , eff. 7/1/2009 .

Amended by 2008 Ga. Laws 706 , § 8 , eff. 7/1/2008 .

Amended by 2005 Ga. Laws 53 , § 26 , eff. 7/1/2005 .

Amended by 2004 Ga. Laws 446 , § 1 , eff. 4/29/2004 .

Amended by 2003 Ga. Laws 209 , § 21 , eff. 7/1/2003 .

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