The San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors when they meet today may block public access to voter registration data of public safety officers.

Public safety officers are uniquely eligible for confidential voter status under the State of California elections code due to the nature of their duties and the heightened risk of threats, harassment, or violence directed at them or their families.

California law permits a county election official to grant confidential voter status to a public safety officer when authorized to do so by the Board of Supervisors.

A public safety officer is defined as a:

*A peace officer defined by California Penal 830 to 830.65 or an individual who may exercise the power of arrest pursuant to Penal Code 830.7.

* An attorney employed by the Department of Justice, the State Public Defender, or a county office of the district attorney or public defender, the US Attorney or the Federal Public Defender.

* A city attorney and an attorney who represents cities in criminal matters.

*An employee of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation who supervises inmates or is required to have care or custody of a prisoner.

*State and federal judges and court commissioners.

Confidential voter status protects a voter’s residence address, telephone number, and email address from public disclosure in voter registration records and in response to public voter registration data requests for up to two years from the date of the application.

These records are accessible only to authorized elections staff with appropriate security credentials.

In order to obtain Confidential voter status, the public safety officer must complete an application containing a statement, signed under the penalty of perjury, that records that the person is a public safety officer as defined above and that a life-threatening circumstance exists to the officer or a member of the officer’s family.