Elections: voter registration information: security: campaign literature and communications.

Existing law makes an affidavit of voter registration confidential, and prohibits the use of an affidavit for a personal, private, or commercial purpose, except as specified. Existing law requires that an affidavit of voter registration with respect to a voter be provided to a candidate for federal, state, or local office, to a committee for or against an initiative or referendum measure for which publication is made, and to a person for election, scholarly, journalistic, or political purposes, or for governmental purposes, as determined by the Secretary of State. Existing law requires the release of the home address or signature of a voter whenever the person's vote is challenged, as specified. This bill would require the Secretary of State to adopt regulations describing best practices for storage and security of voter registration information received by an applicant. The bill would require a person or entity who has received voter registration information pursuant to an application to disclose a breach in the security of the storage of the information to the Secretary of State, as specified. Existing law makes it a misdemeanor for a person to knowingly cause to be mailed or distributed, or knowingly mail or distribute, literature to a voter that includes a designation of the voter's precinct polling place other than the precinct polling place listed for that voter in an official precinct polling list. This bill would make it a misdemeanor for a person, with actual knowledge and intent to deceive, to cause to be distributed or to distribute literature or any other form of communication to a voter that the person knows to include voting information that is incorrect, false, or misleading, as specified. This bill would specify that distribution for this purposes includes distribution by mail, radio or television broadcast, telephone call, text message, email, or any other electronic means, including over the Internet. By creating a new crime, this bill would create a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.