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I would like to purchase a Voter list what do I need to do?
Fill out and print a copy of the Centeral Voter Request (CVR) form and follow the instructions below.
Fact Sheet on Obtaining Data and Instructions for Completing a
Request for Obtaining Data from Maine’s CVR
Revised by the Office of the Secretary of State, July 2010
Title 21-A, Maine Law on Elections, section 196-A, governs the use and distribution of information from the CVR. Section 196-A was enacted by the Public Laws of 2009, c. 564, and is effective July 12, 2010.
Under this law, information contained electronically in the CVR and any information or reports generated by the system are confidential, and may be accessed only by state election officials or municipal election officials for the purposes of election and voter registration administration, except as otherwise provided in Title 21-A MRSA §196-A, and detailed in # 2 below.
Completing the Request Form
Reports or data from CVR are available for the approved uses (detailed in # 2 below) upon submission of the completed “Request for Obtaining Data from Maine CVR” form and payment of the applicable fee to the office described in # 1 below.
1. Request Submitted To – Request form must be typed or completed in ink and submitted to either the Maine Department of the Secretary of State (Division of Elections) or to the office of a municipal Registrar of Voters.
2. Individual/entity obtaining data from CVR for one of the following permitted uses of reports/files under 21-A MRSA §196-A(1):
§196-A(1)(A) Individual Voter Report – The voter requesting the voter’s own data. Must provide voter name and date of birth. Free report.
§196-A(1)(B) Party/Campaign Use Voter File – Only available for party activities, candidate and issue campaigns, and “get-out-the-vote” activities. Contains the following data: voter’s name, residence & mailing address, year of birth, enrollment status, electoral districts, voter status, date of registration, date of change, voter record #, and special designations (UOCAVA and/or township). The requestor is entitled to up to 11 free updates, upon written request, during the 12 month period following the initial purchase of voter records so long as the requestor remains eligible under §196-A(1)(B) to obtain/use CVR data. No more than one update
may be obtained during a 30 day period. Name and/or office must be specified. Electronic files have a per record fee and paper reports have a per page fee. Voter Participation History data, if requested, is free with the purchase of voter data under this section of 196-A; however, it is provided in a separate file from the voter data.
· For purposes of this law, “campaign” is defined in 21-A MRSA §1052 (1), to include activities relating to the promotion or defeat of a citizen’s initiative or people’s veto referendum, a constitutional amendment, legislation expressly conditioned upon ratification by a referendum vote under the Constitution, the ratification of bonds, and any county or municipal referendum.
§196-A(1)(C) Biennial Caucus Voter File – The free, electronic list of voters in a municipality, obtained by the chair or secretary of the municipal committee or person(s) calling the biennial caucus, for use in conducting the caucus. Contains the following data: voter’s name, residence & mailing address, enrollment status, electoral districts, voter status, voter record #, special designations (UOCAVA and/or township). (This list will be available after January 1 of each even-numbered year. Only 1 copy may be obtained in a 2 year period.)
§196-A(1)(D) Absentee Voter File or Report – Any person can request the list of absentee voters, which is the list of voters who requested an absentee ballot for a specific election. Lists are only available for individual municipalities and statewide, not district-wide. Municipalities are required to enter this absentee ballot information for any State election, starting with the June 12, 2007 Special Referendum Election. The list includes the following information (required by 21-A MRSA §753-B): voter’s name, residence address, (NOTE – voter’s name & address are replaced by voter id # in the electronic file), voting districts, party
affiliation, date & manner of ballot requested, issued & received, notation of application or ballot accepted or rejected, and special designations (UOCAVA and/or township). The electronic file is free. The paper report has a per page fee, and is only available at the municipal level.
§196-A(1)(E) Governmental Use Voter File – Governmental or quasi-governmental entities may request this file for governmental or quasi-governmental use only. Contains the following data: Voter’s name, Residence & mailing address, Electoral districts, Voter status, Date of registration, Date of change, Voter record #, and Special designations (UOCAVA and/or township). Free electronic file.
§196-A(1)(F) Statistical Information – Any person can request to receive free statistical data/reports. There is no data on a statistical report which identifies a specific voter.
§196-A (1)(G) Law Enforcement – Any information contained in the CVR may be made available free of charge to a law enforcement officer or law enforcement agency that makes a written request to use the information for a bona fide law enforcement purpose or to a person identified by a court order if directed by that order. NOTE: There is no need to fill out a “Request for Obtaining Data from Maine’s CVR” form for Law Enforcement requests, a written and signed request on the Law Enforcement agency’s letterhead is required.
3. Nature of Request – must indicate whether the request is for:
A. Individual Voter Report – Only available as a printed report.
B. Party/Campaign Use Voter File – Initial Request / Purchase – Requestor must specify the enrollment status, electoral districts, and any Voter Participation History (VPH) requested. Voter Participation History is the report of voter record #s for voters who participated in one or more elections. The requestor must specify the election for VPH by the date and name of the election (e.g. June 12, 2007, Special Referendum Election) or choose “All elections on file”. Requests for Voter Participation History for any State election may be made to an individual municipality for that municipality’s data, or to the Secretary of State (Division of Elections) for statewide or district-wide
data. State Election law (Title 21-A) requires all municipalities to enter the VPH for each voter for any State election, starting with the June 12, 2007 Special Referendum Election. Municipalities may enter VPH for past State Elections, or for municipal elections at their discretion. Requests for Voter Participation for any municipal election must be made directly to the municipality. VPH for municipal elections is not required by law.
C. Party/Campaign Use Voter File – Update Request – Only available for Party/Campaign Use Voter File. May specify any additional Voter Participation History requested.
- Any candidate in a primary or general election for a state or federal office who has purchased a list or report of voter information from the CVR may request, free of charge, a list of all additions, deletions, and changes to the purchased list no more than once per 30 day period, only as long as they remain a candidate for the office (21-A MRSA §196-A (2)(B)).
D. Biennial Municipal Caucus List – Must specify if the request is for Municipality-wide data (available from the municipality), or statewide/countywide data (available from the Secretary of State’s office). Statewide data is available only to the state party.
E. Absentee Voter List – The requestor must specify the election for the List of Absentee Voters by the date and name of the election (e.g. June 12, 2007, Special Referendum Election).
F. Statistical Data Electronic File – Voter Demographics File – Only available from the Secretary of State’s office. Requestor must specify that the file will contain either the voter’s first name or last name. Contains: either voter’s first or last name, year of birth, enrollment status, congressional district, county, voter status, date of registration, date of change, date of last vote in statewide election, special designations (UOCAVA and/or township).
G. Statistical Reports – Requestor must choose from the list of reports:
· Registered & Enrolled Voters – # of voters broken down by municipality, party and districts. Available statewide or for a specific municipality.
· Rejections/Cancellation Summary Report – a list of voters whose voter registration has been either rejected or cancelled. Includes the reason for rejection or cancellation. Available statewide or for a specific municipality.
· Municipal Street List – a list of streets and number ranges in a municipality, broken down by districts. Available only for a specific municipality.
· Ward/Precinct List – a list of voting districts/places for a municipality. Available only for a specific municipality.
4. Medium Requested
- Paper – The fee for information provided in printed form is $1 for the first page and 25¢ per page for all additional pages, except that the fee for additional pages of mailing labels is 75¢ per page. (21-A MRSA §196-A (2)(A)). Requestor must specify printed report or mailing labels.
- Electronic File – Fees for data in electronic form are set forth in 21-A MRSA §196-A (2)(B). These fees are based on the number of records requested. Requestor must indicate delivery method for electronic data (e.g. CD or email). Fees are as follows:
· For 900,001 or more records, $2,200;
· For 600,001 to 900,000 records, $1,650;
· For 400,001 to 600,000 records, $1,100;
· For 250,001 to 400,000 records, $825;
· For 150,001 to 250,000 records, $550;
· For 100,001 to 150,000 records, $275;
· For 75,001 to 100,000 records, $220;
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· For 50,001 to 75,000 records, $182;
· For 35,001 to 50,000 records, $138;
· For 25,001 to 35,000 records, $83;
· For 15,001 to 25,000 records, $55;
· For 7,501 to 15,000 records, $33;
· For 1,001 to 7,500 records, $22; or
· For 1 to 1,000 records, $11.
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5. Arrangements for Payment – all fees are expected to be paid prior to the release of any data either in paper or electronic format.
- For requests sent to the Secretary of State’s Office – Checks/money orders should be made payable either to the Treasurer of State or the Secretary of State. Amounts greater than $500 must be paid by either certified or bank check or money order. Contact the Secretary of State’s office for total cost.
- For requests sent to a municipality – check with the Municipal Clerk for total cost.
6. Requestor Information – Requestor must provide contact information and sign the Request Form. By signing the Request Form the Requestor acknowledges the restrictions on use and redistribution of data, as provided in 21-A MRSA §196-A. Information obtained from the CVR may not be used for any commercial purpose or for solicitation of any kind not directly related to activities of a political party, so-called “get out the vote” efforts or activities directly related to a campaign. Selling or distributing the information to others to
use for commercial purposes and making publicly available the dates of birth or mailing addresses of individual voters is prohibited.
7. Request Fulfillment Schedule – Municipal registrars and the Secretary of State’s office shall respond to all requests for information within 5 business days of receipt of the completed request form and payment of any applicable fees. (21-A MRSA §196-A (3)). Municipal election officials may only provide data and reports on their own voters. State election officials may provide data and reports on voters by municipality, state districts or statewide.
8. Send Request To
- For requests sent to the Secretary of State’s Office
Mailing Address – CVR Manager, 101 State House Station, Augusta ME 04333-0101
- For requests sent to a municipality – contact the Municipal Clerk for mailing address or fax number.
Town Of Gray
24 Main Street
Gray, ME 04036
Phone: 207-657-3339
Fax: 207-657-2852
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