Journalists, researchers and political campaigns that receive voter data must tell California officials if it may have been stolen under a new law Gov. Jerry Brown announced he signed Monday. It requires people and organizations that have California voter registration data to report security breaches affecting the storage of that information, which can include names, birth dates and addresses. Counties and the secretary of state’s office provide voter registration information to people and organizations who agree to use the data only for journalistic, scholarly, political or government purposes. The new law directs the secretary of state to develop guidelines for how such information should be securely stored. Additionally, it makes intentionally misinforming a voter about voting locations, eligibility or times a misdemeanor.
Assemblyman Marc Berman authored the law and said it would improve election security and crack down on misinformation.
“Cyberattacks and deceptive voter misinformation tactics present increasingly sophisticated threats to the integrity of our elections,” the Palo Alto Democrat told his Assembly colleagues earlier this month before they voted to pass it.
It passed both chambers of the Legislature with just one “no” vote.
Full Article: New California law requires voter data breach reporting.