GREEN COVE SPRINGS, Fla. — Your family’s personal information is online for anyone to find and it’s all legal.
Local supervisors of elections offices said they’re getting complaints and people are giving up their right to vote because their phone numbers, addresses and birthdays are put online for everyone to find.
There is a long list of information, including people's names, addresses, phone numbers, dates of birth and political affiliation. It's all public for anyone to find and it's perfectly legal. It's how we found Harold Rutledge's 17-year-old son. He's pre-registered to vote in Florida.
"I didn't think juvenile information was public," said Rutledge.
Rutledge is running for Clay County sheriff. He said as a candidate, the information on voting adults is helpful, but as a father, he feels differently.
"I'm not in favor of having the juvenile information there. The adults, candidates running for office, they need to find a way to reach voters, to get message out," said Rutledge.
Chris Chambless is the Clay County supervisor of elections. He said his office is getting calls every week about the for-profit website posting the information. That website, www.flvoters.com, was started by former New Hampshire state legislator Tom Alciere. The New York Times reported Alciere resigned from his post in 2001 after saying he supported killing police officers.
"The individual is selling ad space, so it's money-making for that individual as well," said Chambless.
St. Johns and Duval counties said they're also getting calls from concerned voters. Their biggest issue is identity theft, but Chambless claims it's also affecting the vote in local elections. He said dozens of voters have asked to have their registration removed.
"They are removing themselves from the rolls, taking away their opportunity to vote. This needs to change," said Chambless.
Florida lawmakers are considering changing the law. Rutledge said while minors' information shouldn't be out there, it shouldn't stop people from voting.
"There's always trade-off when it comes to freedom," said Rutledge.
The First Amendment Foundation said this information on adults should stay public because it helps get a better idea of who is voting and who isn’t in elections, but it doesn’t feel minors' information should be out there. Adding to citizens' concerns, local supervisors of elections said prison inmates are also requesting this information.
We did reach out to the other sheriff candidates in Clay County. James Jett told us he supports protecting people’s identity and said the information shouldn't be readily available for anyone to get. Craig Aldrich said he will have to explore the idea more before he can comment. We have not heard back from Darryl Daniels.
Cox Media Group
