Bracing for November, California election officials can now keep their addresses private

Excerpted from the Mercury News

By Eliyahu Kamisher

"As California election officials scramble to mail out more than 20 million ballots next month, the hangover effects of conspiracy theories that snowballed in the 2020 election are weighing heavily on this year’s elections administrators.

The whirlwind of election misinformation has led to a flood of public records requests, spurred by promoters of President Donald Trump’s false election claims. Officials in politically divided counties have shared concerns about their personal safety. Elsewhere, in deep red Shasta County, people recently approached homes with fake “voter task force” IDs, prompting voter intimidation warnings from the local elections head.

Now there is one thing election officials can worry less about: angry, sometimes conspiracy-driven, citizens harassing their private residences. Under SB 1131, which took effect immediately after Gov. Gavin Newsom signed it into law Monday, election officials can block their address from the public domain.

Tommy Gong, the elections head in Contra Costa County, said the law will bring some relief to elections clerks already working under the microscope of the dizzying array of election fraud claims.

“It just provides that additional layer of security,” said Gong. “Now someone isn’t gonna be knocking on your door.”

The legislation allows election officials to enroll in Safer at Home, a program that shields their private information and was originally designed for survivors of domestic violence. Election workers will be able to mask their address from publicly available voter rolls and records requests.

The legislation also expands privacy protections for many public employees, including local code enforcement workers who have borne the brunt of enforcing COVID-19 lockdowns.

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