SENATE DOCKET, NO. 1823        FILED ON: 1/21/2011

SENATE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 297

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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PRESENTED BY:

Sonia Chang-Diaz

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To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
Court assembled:

The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:

An act relative to the central registry of voters.

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PETITION OF:

SENATE DOCKET, NO. 1823        FILED ON: 1/21/2011

SENATE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 297

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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In the Year Two Thousand Eleven

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An act relative to the central registry of voters.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
 

                 SECTION 1.   The last sentence of Section 47C of chapter 51 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2008 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out the last sentence and inserting in place thereof the following sentences: 

                 The names and addresses contained in said central registry shall not be a matter of public record, provided however, that the names and addresses, dates of registration, voting history, and dates of birth shall be made available to the jury commissioner and adjutant general at no cost; they shall be made available to state party committees, statewide candidate committees, and state ballot question committees at a fair and reasonable cost, set by the state secretary, not to exceed the cost of printing or preparing computer readable documents, and further they shall be made available to organizations with Internal Revenue Service status of 501 (c)(3), 501 (c)(4), 501(c)5, and 527s, and Political Action Committees (or PACs), for a fee of $1000, entitling the receiving organization to use of the information for purposes of civic engagement, public policy advocacy, and political advocacy.  The State Secretary may deny requests for this information to any receiving organization that has had a history of using the abovementioned data for purposes other than those permitted in this section. In the event of a data request denial, the State Secretary shall provide a written explanation of the denial to the requesting organization.