Key takeaways from Donald Trump’s controversial speech on election security

1 Availability of Voter File Information There are often claims of voter information being sold on the dark web. These reports may be “false positives” because there is a great deal of voter information available to either anyone who wants to purchase it or at least to candidates and political parties. Once the voter information is received from the authentic source, there are no technical limitations on how the data is reused, redistributed, or consolidated with other data sources. When this data appears on the dark web it can cause concern of a data breach, but it is usually just public data that is widely available. The price, availability, and type of data in the voter file varies state-by-state. The price of the statewide voter file ranges from $0 to $37,000. The relative availability of voter file information can be categorized as open (effectively no use restrictions), mixed (some restrictions for specific types of user groups), or restricted (some restrictions for specific types of user groups or complete restrictions for specific types of user groups). In general, even the least restrictive states prohibit the commercial use of voter file information, however the amount of PII (such as DOB or SSN) included in the voter file may remain significant and valuable to a variety of malicious actors.

2 State Availability Price Estimate State Availability Price Estimate Alabama Open $37,000 Montana Open $1,000 Alaska Open $20 Nebraska Mixed $500 Arizona Mixed $516 Nevada Open $20,000 Arkansas Open $0 New Hampshire Mixed $275 California Mixed $15,000 New Jersey Open $375 Colorado Open $50 New Mexico Mixed $5,215 Connecticut Open $300 New York Mixed $0 Delaware Mixed $25 North Carolina Open $0 District of Columbia Open $2 North Dakota Restricted $2,120 Florida Open $0 Ohio Open $0 Georgia Open $250 Oklahoma Open $0 Hawaii Mixed $500 Oregon Open $500 Idaho Open $20 Pennsylvania Open $20 Illinois Restricted $500 Rhode Island Open $25 Indiana Open $0 South Carolina Open $2,500 Iowa Mixed $1,100 South Dakota Mixed $2,500 Kansas Open $200 Tennessee Mixed $2,500 Kentucky Mixed $2,000 Texas Open $1,279 Louisiana Open $5,000 Utah Open $1,050 Maine Mixed $2,200 Vermont Open $0 Maryland Restricted $125 Virginia Mixed $5,000 Massachusetts Mixed $0 Washington Open $0 Michigan Open $23 West Virginia Open $500 Minnesota Restricted $51 Wisconsin Open $12,500 Mississippi Open $1,100 Wyoming Mixed $0 Missouri Open $35 Sources: National Conference of State Legislatures , United States Elections Project , State Election O fficials

3 State Availability Price Estimate What information does the file contain? What is kept confidential? Alabama Open $37,000 All voter registration information, except what is confidential. SSN, month and day of birth. Alaska Open $20 Names, addresses, party affiliation. Age or DOB, any part of SSN, DL number, voter ID number, place of birth, signature. Arizona Mixed $516 Full name, party preference, date of registration, residence address, mailing address, zip code, phone number, birth year, occupation, voting history, early voting information. Birth month and day, any part of SSN, DL number, Indian census number, father’s name or mother’s maiden name, state or country of birth, signature, e-mail address. Arkansas Open $0 Names, addresses and precinct numbers. Not specified. California Mixed $15,000 Name, address, telephone number, political party preference. DL number, SSN, any other unique identifier, signature. Colorado Open $50 Full name, address, year of birth, political party, vote history. Personal identifiable information such as SSN, DL number, or full dates of birth; electronic copies of signatures. Connecticut Open $300 Not specified. Full SSN Delaware Mixed $25 Political parties, candidates and the public may receive voter names, addresses, political party affiliations, voting history, legislative district information, telephone numbers and years of birth. Members of the General Assembly and government agencies may receive full DOB in addition to the information above. SSN, DOB, DL number, and telephone number are not subject to public inspection. Full DOB is only provided to certain voter list requesters.

4 District of Columbia Open $2 Party affiliation, date of registration, ward, precinct, voter history, or any other permissible category. Signatures are available for the public to view but not to copy or trace. Any part of SSN, DOB, email addresses, phone numbers, identify of voter registration agency where voter registered. Florida Open $0 Voter data is available to the public, except for what is listed as confidential. SSN, DOB, DL number, voter registration number, declinations to register to vote made at the DMV, information on when and where the person registered. Voter signatures may not be copied as part of an open records request. Information regarding an applicant's prior felony conviction. Georgia Open $250 All information except what is listed as confidential, including year of birth. Month and day of birth, SSN, e-mail addresses, DL numbers, location at which the voter registered. Hawaii Mixed $500 Full name, address, district/precinct, and voter status are public. All other personal information shall be confidential except for election or government purposes. Idaho Open $20 Name, address, precinct. Not specified. Illinois Restricted $500 Not specified. Indiana Open $0 Information contained within the statewide registration list. DOB, SSN, DL number, gender, phone number, e- mail address, voting history, voter registration ID number, date of registration.

5 Iowa Mixed $1,100 Registration data specified by the list purchaser. Whole or partial SSN, voter ID number assigned by the state, DL number. Kansas Open $200 Not specified. SSN, DL number or any part thereof must be removed or rendered unreadable. Kentucky Mixed $2,000 Not specified. SSN is redacted. Louisiana Open $5,000 Voter registration records, except for the confidential information. SSN, DL number, day and month of birth, mother’s maiden name, e-mail address, SMS number, the fact that a registered voter is entitled to assistance in voting, an individual's declination to register to vote, information relating to the specific public assistance agency or motor vehicle office through which a particular individual registered to vote. Maine Mixed $2,200 Voter’s name, residence address, mailing address, DOB, enrollment status, electoral districts, voter status, date of registration, date of change of the vote record, voter participation history, voter record number and any special designations (UOCAVA voter, for example). Not specified. Maryland Restricted $125 Applicants for the copies of the registration list may specify the information to include among name, address, party affiliation, sex, DOB, voting history. SSN, DL number

6 Massachusetts Mixed $0 Names and addresses. Not specified, though names and addresses of registered voters are not public information. Michigan Open $23 Name, address, year of birth DL number, last 4 of SSN, month and day of birth, phone number, information that a person declined to register to vote, the office that received a registered voter's application, digitized signature. Minnesota Restricted $51 Name, address, year of birth, voting history, phone number, voting district. DOB, SSN, DL number, ID number, Military ID, Passport number. Mississippi Open $1,100 Full names, residence address, mailing address, registration date, voter status, last vote date, district, voting history with party code. SSN, DOB, age, DL number, phone numbers, e-mail addresses, fax numbers, voter number assigned by the county, custom fields, last jury date, registration source. Missouri Open $35 Names, DOB, unique voter identification numbers, addresses, townships or wards, precincts, voting history. Not specified. Montana Open $1,000 Information can be customized for requestor. DL, whole or partial SSN, address information for protected individuals.

7 Nebraska Mixed $500 All information on the voter registration form. Names, residence address, mailing address, address of last registration, phone numbers and e-mail addresses (unless requested to be private), DL number or last four of SSN, date of application for registration, place of birth, DOB, party affiliation. Voters may request that phone numbers and e-mail addresses remain private. Nevada Open $20,000 Names, address, DOB, phone number and the serial number on each application. Parties receive information on the last date the record was changed, and additions and revisions to the list. SSN, DL number, e- mail address; address and phone number if requested. New Hampshire Mixed $275 Name, domicile address, mailing address, town or city, voter history, and party affiliation. Any other information on voter registration form (which includes SSN and DL number). The voter database is private and confidential and any of the information contained therein shall not be disclosed pursuant to a subpoena or civil litigation discovery request. New Jersey Open $375 Not specified. SSN, DL number are redacted from all public records.

8 New Mexico Mixed $5,215 Voter data (selected information derived from the voter file), mailing labels (prepared mailing labels of selected voters arranged in order and containing only the name and address of voter), or special voter list (list of selected voters arranged in order requested). SSN, codes used to identify agencies where voters have registered, a voter's day and month of birth or voters' telephone numbers if prohibited by voters. New York Mixed $0 Name, residence address and party enrollment. Not specified. North Carolina Open $0 Voter name, county voter identification number, residential address, mailing address, sex, race, age but not date of birth, party affiliation, precinct name, precinct identification code, congressional district, senate district, representative district, and, where applicable, county commissioner district, city governing board district, fire district, soil and water conservation district, and any other district information available, and voter history including primary, general, and special districts, or any other reasonable category. Full or partial SSN, DOB, identify of the public agency which the voter registered, e-mail. Cumulative data based on those items of information may be publicly disclosed as long as information about any individual cannot be discerned from the disclosed data.

9 North Dakota Restricted $2,120 Name, residential and mailing address, unique identifier generated and assigned to the individual in the central voter file, active or inactive status, district and precinct, voting history. All information in the central voter file is an exempt record that is not public. Candidates, parties and political committees receive the above information, but do not receive DOB and DL number of voters. Ohio Open $0 Name, address, precinct number, voting history. Not specified. Oklahoma Open $0 Name, address, party affiliation. Full or partial SSN, DL number, voter registration application. Oregon Open $500 Name, party affiliation, residence or mailing address and precinct name/number Not specified. Pennsylvania Open $20 Name, address, DOB, voting history, voting district. Digitized or electronic signatures or statewide voter registration number. The agency where a voter registered. Rhode Island Open $25 Name, party affiliation, street address, city or town, congressional district, senatorial district, representative district, ward, and/or precinct and nothing else. Anything that indicates where the voter registered. South Carolina Open $2,500 Name, sex, race, DOB, residence and mailing address, phone number. SSN. Information that is confidential for other state agencies must also remain confidential in the voter list. South Dakota Mixed $2,500 All information from each voter’s registration card (except what is kept confidential below), the date of the last election the voter has voted in, and when the voter’s information was last updated. Full DOB (though birth year may be disclosed), SSN, DL number

10 Tennessee Mixed $2,500 Voter registration information, including voting history. SSN Texas Open $1,279 Name, DOB, registration number, residence address (or concise description of the voter’s residence if the voter has no address). SSN, DL number, personal identification card number, indication that an applicant is interested in working as an election judge. The following cannot be posted online: phone number, SSN, DL number, DOB, or residential address of protected persons. Utah Open $1,050 Information contained on the voter registration form (name, address, phone number if listed, party). DL number, SSN, email address and day of birth. Months and years of birth are restricted to government officials, government employees, political parties, or certain other persons under certain circumstances. Vermont Open $0 Information contained within the statewide list that is not confidential. Month and day of birth, DL number, telephone number, e-mail address, and the last four digits of SSN. Virginia Mixed $5,000 Name, address, year of birth, gender and all election districts applicable to each registered voter. Voting history is also available to candidates, parties, etc. for political purposes. Any part of SSN, addresses of protected persons, the declination by an individual to register to vote and related records, the identity of a voter registration agency through which a particular voter is registered, birth day and month.

11 Washington Open $0 Precinct lists and lists of all registered voters. Identity of office or agency where any particular voter registered, choice not to register to vote. Personal information exempt from open records requests includes SSN and any record used to provide identity, age, residential address required for a DL number. West Virginia Open $500 Name, residence address, political party affiliation and status of the registrant. Phone number, email address, SSN or DL number. Wisconsin Open $12,500 Name, address, district, unique registration ID number, voting history, indication of the method by which the registration form was received, absentee voting information. DOB, DL number, SSN, any information on ACP participants, any indication of a voting accommodation provided. Wyoming Mixed $0 Name, gender, address, party affiliation. SSN (and portions of SSN), DL number, DOB, phone number, tribal ID number, e-mail address and other personally identifiable information. Sources: National Conference of State Legislatures , United States Elections Project , State Election Officials