ACP Lets DV Survivors Vote Without Their Address Becoming Public

For survivors of domestic violence, staying safe becomes their top priority. Their lives are often impacted in ways most don’t have to consider, like registering to vote when you want your whereabouts to be kept private.

When someone registers to vote in Washington state, the address they provide becomes public record and anyone can find it. For a domestic violence survivor, even providing general information during registration can potentially put their lives in danger.

With midterm elections quickly approaching, some survivors say voting can be dangerous but Washington state has a program that could help them. The state’s Address Confidentiality Program allows survivors to keep their public records closed, as long as they’re enrolled in a domestic violence survivor program.

What it does is route all mail to a post office box in Olympia, so that even the city where the survivor resides remains secret. There are some hassles involved. You can’t get packages, you can’t get magazines but it is a way to still correspond with the outside world and to vote. (Q13 News, October 26, 2018)
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Many states have address confidentiality programs to help protect victims of domestic violence and certain other crimes. These are good programs that should be supported, but they need to be expanded to include not just DV survivors, but anyone who wants to protect their personal privacy and keep their address from being entered into public records.

You shouldn't have to become a victim of a violent crime before being able to protect yourself from becoming a victim of a violent crime.

Whether you are the victim of domestic violence, attempting to avoid a stalker, or concerned that some out of control government employee is keeping secret files about you; you should be able to keep your address and other personal information from appearing in public records.

Operating in Hostile and Non-Permissive Environments:
A Survival and Resource Guide for Those Who Go in Harm’s Way