Geographical Area
United States
Problem
When a person registers to vote, their address is placed online and on voter rolls that are either free or low-cost as a matter of public record, primarily so campaigns can easily contact voters. In some states, this means victims of domestic violence are prevented from registering to vote due to personal safety concerns, excluding them from the democratic process. Forty-one states have implemented Address Confidentiality Programs (ACPs), where individuals who have experienced domestic violence can register to vote using the state capitol building’s address instead of their own, while nine states (Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Georgia, Hawaii, North Dakota, South Carolina, South Dakota, Wyoming), Puerto Rico, and Guam have no such programs.
Solution
To support survivors of domestic violence in registering to vote, Andrew Goodman Puffin Democracy Fellow Eva Quiñones urges the nine states without ACPs to adopt programs to protect sensitive information from being made public or put online. Registering to vote with an Address Confidentiality Program looks different in each state, many of which only provide services for mail-in or absentee ballots. Today, this page contains a targeted action form, designed for you to directly contact your elected officials to urge them to adopt ACPs in the nine states without them.
Get Involved
- Contact your elected officials to advocate for ACPs! Using the targeted action form below, you can easily call your elected officials. We have even provided talking points you can use or modify.
- Share the targeted action form on your social media so others can take action too!
- Read more from Eva Quiñones!