CALIFORNIA STATUTES AND CODES
SECTIONS 2180-2194
ELECTIONS CODE
SECTION 2180-2194
2180. (a) At least once, and more often if he or she deems it
necessary, within each two-year period commencing on the first day of
January in each odd-numbered year, the county elections official
shall have printed a complete index, by precinct, to the affidavits
of registration current at the date of printing.
(b) (1) The index shall contain the name, address, residence
telephone number if furnished, and political affiliation of each
voter, and also a ruled space to the left of each name, within which
to write, in figures, the line number designating the position of the
name of the voter on the roster of voters.
(2) The name shall include the given name and the middle name or
initials, if any. At the affiant's option, the given name may be
preceded by the designation "Miss," "Ms.," "Mrs.," or "Mr."
(c) The index shall be printed in a size no smaller than
eight-point roman type on eight-point body and shall be arranged in
alphabetical order in accordance with the surnames of the voters.
(d) A space of not less than one-quarter inch or one line of
printing shall be left between the names of voters beginning with one
letter of the alphabet and those starting with the next letter of
the alphabet.
(e) Supplements of the same content and style may be printed as
need for them appears.
2181. In addition to printing a complete index within and for each
two-year period, as provided in Section 2180, the county elections
official may print and maintain one complete and continuing index, by
precinct, to the affidavits of registration and keep the index
current by supplements and deletions as provided in Sections 2180 and
2183, and by reprinting portions of the index by precinct, as the
need appears, the reprinted portions to contain the same information
concerning each voter and to be in the same style, spacing, and type
of print as provided in Section 2180.
2182. The number of copies of the precinct index printed shall be
as many as in the judgment of the county elections official may be
necessary for the business of the office. In counties where the
precinct index is printed by means of a punched card or other
high-speed data processing equipment, the number of copies of
precinct indexes so prepared shall be the number required to be
furnished by law and as many more as in the judgment of the county
elections official may be necessary for the business of the office.
2183. The elections official shall supply copies of the index and
of supplements to the index, necessary to bring it up to date, for
all elections to be held within the county. The county elections
official shall also supply as many copies of the index and
supplements, not to exceed four in number, as may be requested by the
elections official of a city, school district or other body. The
name of each voter whose affidavit of registration has been canceled
shall be lined out of the index and supplement. The county elections
official may charge an amount as will reimburse the county for the
expense incurred in preparing and furnishing lined out indexes of
registrations and supplements other than for those provided for by
Sections 2180 and 2182.
In the case of a municipal election, an index provided pursuant to
this section shall be supplied to the city elections official not
less than 25 days prior to the day of the election for which it is
provided. If the index does not contain the names of all people
eligible to vote in the election, the county elections official shall
supply a supplement to the index, including all voters who
registered after the 54th day before the election, not less than
seven days prior to the election for which it is provided.
2184. Upon demand of any Member of the Legislature, of Congress, or
any candidate who is to be voted for in the county, in a city
therein, or in a political subdivision of either, or upon written
demand of his or her campaign committee, of any committee for or
against any proposed ballot measure, or of any committee for or
against any referendum or initiative measure for which legal
publication has been made, the county elections official shall
furnish to the Member of the Legislature, of Congress, or to either
the candidate or his or her campaign committee or to the ballot
measure committee no more than two copies of the printed indexes of
the registration for the primary and general elections in which the
Member of the Legislature or Congress may participate as a candidate,
or for the election in which the candidate will participate, or the
ballot measure will be voted upon, at a charge of fifty cents ($0.50)
per thousand names. All moneys collected shall be deposited in the
county treasury to the credit of the general fund.
2185. Upon written demand of the chair or vice chair of a party
state central committee or of the chair of a party county central
committee, the county elections official shall furnish to each
committee, without charge therefor, the index of registration for the
primary and general elections, for any special election at which a
partisan office is to be filled, or for any statewide special
election. The index of registration shall be furnished to the
committee demanding the index not less than 25 days prior to the day
of the primary, general, or special election for which they are
provided. Upon written demand, the county elections official shall
also furnish to the committee the index of registration of voters who
registered after the 54th day before the election, which shall be
compiled and prepared by Assembly districts. The county elections
official shall furnish either two printed copies or, if available,
one copy in an electronic form of the indexes specified in this
section.
2187. (a) Each county elections official shall send to the
Secretary of State, in a format described by the Secretary of State,
a summary statement of the number of voters in the county. The
statement shall show the total number of voters in the county, the
number registered as affiliated with each qualified political party,
the number registered in nonqualified parties, and the number who
declined to state any party affiliation. The statement shall also
show the number of voters, by political affiliations, in each city,
supervisorial district, Assembly district, Senate district, and
congressional district located in whole or in part within the county.
(b) The Secretary of State, on the basis of the statements sent by
the county elections officials and within 30 days after receiving
those statements, shall compile a statewide list showing the number
of voters, by party affiliations, in the state and in each county,
city, supervisorial district, Assembly district, Senate district, and
congressional district in the state. A copy of this list shall be
made available, upon request, to any elector in this state.
(c) Each county that uses data processing equipment to store the
information set forth in the affidavit of registration shall send to
the Secretary of State one copy of the magnetic tape file with the
information requested by the Secretary of State. Each county that
does not use data processing storage shall send to the Secretary of
State one copy of the index setting forth that information.
(d) The summary statements and the magnetic tape file copy or the
index shall be sent at the following times:
(1) On the 135th day before each presidential primary and before
each direct primary, with respect to voters registered on the 154th
day before the primary election.
(2) Not less than 50 days prior to the primary election, with
respect to voters registered on the 60th day before the primary
election.
(3) Not less than 7 days prior to the primary election, with
respect to voters registered before the 14th day prior to the primary
election.
(4) Not less than 50 days prior to the general election, with
respect to voters registered on the 60th day before the general
election.
(5) Not less than 7 days prior to the general election, with
respect to voters registered before the 14th day prior to the general
election.
(6) On or before March 1 of each odd-numbered year, with respect
to voters registered as of February 10.
(e) The Secretary of State may adopt regulations prescribing the
content and format of the magnetic tape file or index referred to in
subdivision (c) and containing the registered voter information from
the affidavits of registration.
(f) The Secretary of State may adopt regulations prescribing
additional regular reporting times, except that the total number of
reporting times in any one calendar year shall not exceed 12.
(g) The Secretary of State shall make the information from the
magnetic tape files or the printed indexes available, under
conditions prescribed by the Secretary of State, to any candidate for
federal, state, or local office, to any committee for or against any
proposed ballot measure, to any committee for or against any
initiative or referendum measure for which legal publication is made,
and to any person for election, scholarly or political research, or
governmental purposes as determined by the Secretary of State.
2188. (a) Any application for voter registration information
available pursuant to law and maintained by the Secretary of State or
by the elections official of any county shall be made pursuant to
this section.
(b) The application shall set forth all of the following:
(1) The printed or typed name of the applicant in full.
(2) The complete residence address and complete business address
of the applicant, giving street and number. If no street or number
exists, a postal mailing address as well as an adequate designation
sufficient to readily ascertain the location.
(3) The telephone number of the applicant, if one exists.
(4) The number of the applicant's driver's license, state
identification card, or other identification approved by the
Secretary of State if the applicant does not have a driver's license
or state identification card.
(5) The specific information requested.
(6) A statement of the intended use of the information requested.
(c) If the application is on behalf of a person other than the
applicant, the applicant shall, in addition to the information
required by subdivision (b), set forth all of the following:
(1) The name of the person, organization, company, committee,
association, or group requesting the voter registration information,
including their complete mailing address and telephone number.
(2) The name of the person authorizing or requesting the applicant
to obtain the voter registration information.
(d) The elections official shall request the applicant to display
his or her identification for purposes of verifying that identifying
numbers of the identification document match those written by the
applicant on the application form.
(e) The applicant shall certify to the truth and correctness of
the content of the application, under penalty of perjury, with the
signature of his or her name at length, including given name, middle
name or initial, or initial and middle name. The applicant shall
state the date and place of execution of the declaration.
(f) Completed applications for voter registration information
shall be retained by the elections official for five years from the
date of application.
(g) This section shall not apply to requests for information by
elections officials for election purposes or by other public agencies
for governmental purposes.
(h) The Secretary of State may prescribe additional information to
be included in the application for voter registration information.
2188.1. The Secretary of State shall study the feasibility of
inserting fictitious names of voters into the voter registration
information database as a possible investigative and enforcement tool
for determining inappropriate or unauthorized uses of voter
registration information.
2188.5. (a) A person who requests voter information pursuant to
Section 2188 or who obtains signatures or other information collected
for an initiative, referendum, or recall petition shall not send
that information outside of the United States or make it available in
any way electronically to persons outside the United States,
including, but not limited to, access over the Internet.(b) For
purposes of this section, "United States" includes each of the
several states of the United States, the District of Columbia, and
the territories and possessions of the United States.
2189. Before the day of any election held throughout the county,
the county elections official shall deliver to the precinct board in
each precinct three copies of the index to the affidavits of
registration for that precinct, with canceled names lined out and
with necessary supplements to bring the index up to date. The index
and supplements shall constitute the register to be used at the
election.
2190. If the county elections official maintains tabulating cards
containing the information set forth in the affidavits of
registration of voters, or sets forth that information on electronic
data processing tape, he or she shall provide, upon request, not less
than 30 days prior to each direct primary election and general
election, one set of those cards or a copy of the tape to the county
central committee of a party for all voters allowed to participate in
the subsequent direct primary election or general election. The
county elections official shall also furnish to the county central
committee, not less than seven days prior to each direct primary
election and general election, one set of those cards or a copy of
the tape of those voters who registered after the 54th day before the
election. The cards or tape shall be provided without charge, except
that the county central committee shall provide a replacement for
the tape.
In addition to those provided to county central committees, the
county elections official shall provide, upon request, a set of cards
or a copy of a tape to any candidate or committee specified in
Section 2184, provided that the candidate or committee reimburses the
county for whatever actual costs are involved in providing this
service.
2191. The elections official shall compile an index, list, or file,
by precinct, of all persons who voted in the previous statewide
general election. This information shall be compiled in conjunction
with the purge of voter registration files conducted pursuant to
Article 2 (commencing with Section 2220) of Chapter 3.
Information compiled pursuant to this section shall include that
information which is required to appear in the index as set forth in
Section 2180.
Any person, candidate, or committee who is entitled to obtain a
copy of any information contained in this article shall, upon written
request to the elections official, be entitled to obtain the index,
list, or file compiled pursuant to this section. The elections
official shall inform any recipient of this information as to whether
the index, list, or file includes a voting history of vote by mail
voters. The elections official may require the payment of a fee not
to exceed the cost of duplicating the information or providing the
tape as a condition to furnishing the information contained in this
section.
If the elections official uses data-processing equipment, he or
she shall make the index available on a data-processing tape file on
request. The elections official shall be required to retain this file
until the next November general election in an even-numbered year
has been conducted.
2192. Notwithstanding anything contained in this article, in any
county in which tabulating equipment is used to produce the indexes
of registration, the indexes shall be furnished to persons,
committees, and agencies as provided in this article by street
addresses in numerical order, but the indexes may be maintained in
alphabetical order. In the event the county contains precincts for
which the majority of voters have no street addresses, the indexes
for those precincts may be arranged and furnished for all purposes in
alphabetical order in accordance with the surnames of voters.
2193. The Secretary of State shall, upon the request of a county
elections official, compile, from the information furnished by the
county elections officials pursuant to Section 2187, a file of
potential duplicate voter registrations. The county elections
official may immediately cancel those voter registrations which, upon
investigation, are determined to be duplicates. The voter
registration bearing the later date shall remain in effect.
2194. (a) The voter registration card information identified in
subdivision (a) of Section 6254.4 of the Government Code:
(1) Shall be confidential and shall not appear on any computer
terminal, list, affidavit, duplicate affidavit, or other medium
routinely available to the public at the county elections official's
office.
(2) Shall not be used for any personal, private, or commercial
purpose, including, but not limited to:
(A) The harassment of any voter or voter's household.
(B) The advertising, solicitation, sale, or marketing of products
or services to any voter or voter's household.
(C) Reproduction in print, broadcast visual or audio, or display
on the Internet or any computer terminal unless pursuant to paragraph
(3).
(3) Shall be provided with respect to any voter, subject to the
provisions of Sections 2166.5, 2166.7, and 2188, to any candidate for
federal, state, or local office, to any committee for or against any
initiative or referendum measure for which legal publication is
made, and to any person for election, scholarly, journalistic, or
political purposes, or for governmental purposes, as determined by
the Secretary of State.
(b) (1) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the California
driver's license number, the California identification card number,
the social security number, and any other unique identifier used by
the State of California for purposes of voter identification shown on
a voter registration card of a registered voter, or added to voter
registration records to comply with the requirements of the Help
America Vote Act of 2002 (42 U.S.C. Sec. 15301 et seq.), are
confidential and shall not be disclosed to any person.
(2) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the signature of
the voter shown on the voter registration card is confidential and
shall not be disclosed to any person, except as provided in
subdivision (c).
(c) (1) The home address or signature of any voter shall be
released whenever the person's vote is challenged pursuant to
Sections 15105 to 15108, inclusive, or Article 3 (commencing with
Section 14240) of Chapter 3 of Division 14. The address or signature
shall be released only to the challenger, to elections officials, and
to other persons as necessary to make, defend against, or adjudicate
the challenge.
(2) An elections official shall permit a person to view the
signature of a voter for the purpose of determining whether the
signature matches a signature on an affidavit of registration or a
petition, but shall not permit a signature to be copied.
(d) A governmental entity, or officer or employee thereof, shall
not be held civilly liable as a result of disclosure of the
information referred to in this section, unless by a showing of gross
negligence or willfulness.
(e) For the purposes of this section, "voter's household" is
defined as the voter's place of residence or mailing address or any
persons who reside at the place of residence or use the mailing
address as supplied on the affidavit of registration pursuant to
paragraphs (3) and (4) of subdivision (a) of Section 2150.