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| [ House Amendment 001 ] |
90_HB1329
New Act
10 ILCS 5/20-3 from Ch. 46, par. 20-3
Creates the Address Confidentiality for Victims of
Domestic Violence Act. Provides that victims of domestic
violence may designate the Secretary of State as agent for
purposes of service of process and the receipt of mail.
Provides for the certification of participants under the Act.
Provides that the State and local agencies shall accept the
address designated by the Secretary of State as the
participant's substitute address. Provides that the
Secretary of State shall provide assistance to victims of
domestic violence. Contains other provisions. Amends the
Election Code. Provides that participants under the Address
Confidentiality for Victims of Domestic Violence Act may vote
by absentee ballot.
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1 AN ACT to create the Address Confidentiality for Victims
2 of Domestic Violence Act.
3 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
4 represented in the General Assembly:
5 Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the
6 Address Confidentiality for Victims of Domestic Violence Act.
7 Section 5. Legislative findings. The General Assembly
8 finds that persons attempting to escape from actual or
9 threatened domestic violence frequently establish new
10 addresses in order to prevent their assailants or probable
11 assailants from finding them. The purpose of this Act is to
12 enable State and local agencies to respond to requests for
13 public records without disclosing the location of a victim of
14 domestic violence, to enable interagency cooperation with the
15 Secretary of State in providing address confidentiality for
16 victims of domestic violence, and to enable State and local
17 agencies to accept a program participant's use of an address
18 designated by the Secretary of State as a substitute mailing
19 address.
20 Section 10. Definitions. In this Act, unless the
21 context otherwise requires:
22 "Address" means a residential street address, school
23 address, or work address of an individual, as specified on
24 the individual's application to be a program participant
25 under this Act.
26 "Program participant" means a person certified as a
27 program participant under this Act.
28 "Domestic violence" has the same meaning as in the
29 Illinois Domestic Violence Act of 1986 and includes a threat
30 of domestic violence against an individual in a domestic
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1 situation, regardless of whether the domestic violence or
2 threat has been reported to law enforcement officers.
3 Section 15. Address confidentiality program;
4 application; certification.
5 (a) An adult person, a parent or guardian acting on
6 behalf of a minor, or a guardian acting on behalf of a
7 disabled person, as defined in Article 11a of the Probate Act
8 of 1975, may apply to the Secretary of State to have an
9 address designated by the Secretary of State serve as the
10 person's address or the address of the minor or disabled
11 person. The Secretary of State shall approve an application
12 if it is filed in the manner and on the form prescribed by
13 him or her and if it contains:
14 (1) a sworn statement by the applicant that the
15 applicant has good reason to believe (i) that the
16 applicant, or the minor or disabled person on whose
17 behalf the application is made, is a victim of domestic
18 violence; and (ii) that the applicant fears for his or
19 her safety or his or her children's safety, or the safety
20 of the minor or disabled person on whose behalf the
21 application is made;
22 (2) a designation of the Secretary of State as
23 agent for purposes of service of process and receipt of
24 mail;
25 (3) the mailing address where the applicant can be
26 contacted by the Secretary of State, and the phone number
27 or numbers where the applicant can be called by the
28 Secretary of State;
29 (4) the new address or addresses that the applicant
30 requests not be disclosed for the reason that disclosure
31 will increase the risk of domestic violence; and
32 (5) the signature of the applicant and of any
33 individual or representative of any office designated in
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1 writing under Section 40 of this Act who assisted in the
2 preparation of the application, and the date on which the
3 applicant signed the application.
4 (b) Applications shall be filed with the office of the
5 Secretary of State.
6 (c) Upon filing a properly completed application, the
7 Secretary of State shall certify the applicant as a program
8 participant. Applicants shall be certified for 4 years
9 following the date of filing unless the certification is
10 withdrawn or invalidated before that date. The Secretary of
11 State shall by rule establish a renewal procedure.
12 (d) A person who falsely attests in an application that
13 disclosure of the applicant's address would endanger the
14 applicant's safety or the safety of the applicant's children
15 or the minor or incapacitated person on whose behalf the
16 application is made, or who knowingly provides false or
17 incorrect information upon making an application, shall be
18 guilty of a Class 3 felony.
19 Section 20. Certification cancellation.
20 (a) If the program participant obtains a name change, he
21 or she loses certification as a program participant.
22 (b) The Secretary of State may cancel a program
23 participant's certification if there is a change in the
24 residential address from the one listed on the application,
25 unless the program participant provides the Secretary of
26 State within 7 days notice before the change of address.
27 (c) The Secretary of State may cancel certification of a
28 program participant if mail forwarded by the Secretary to the
29 program participant's address is returned as nondeliverable.
30 (d) The Secretary of State shall cancel certification of
31 a program participant who applies using false information.
32 Section 25. Agency use of designated address.
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1 (a) A program participant may request that State and
2 local agencies use the address designated by the Secretary of
3 State as his or her address. When creating a new public
4 record, State and local agencies shall accept the address
5 designated by the Secretary of State as a program
6 participant's substitute address, unless the Secretary of
7 State has determined that:
8 (1) the agency has a bona fide statutory or
9 administrative requirement for the use of the address
10 that would otherwise be confidential under this Act; and
11 (2) this address will be used only for those
12 statutory and administrative purposes.
13 (b) A program participant may use the address designated
14 by the Secretary of State as his or her work address.
15 (c) The office of the Secretary of State shall forward
16 all first class mail to the appropriate program participants.
17 Section 30. Voting by program participant; use of
18 designated address by election authority.
19 (a) A program participant who is otherwise qualified to
20 vote may apply to vote under Article 20 of the Election Code.
21 The program participant shall automatically receive absentee
22 ballots for all elections in the jurisdictions for which that
23 individual resides in the same manner as absentee voters who
24 qualify under Article 20 of the Election Code. The election
25 authority shall transmit the absentee ballot to the program
26 participant at the address designated by the participant in
27 his or her application. Neither the name nor the address of a
28 program participant shall be included in any list of
29 registered voters available to the public.
30 (b) The election authority may not make the
31 participant's address contained in voter registration records
32 available for public inspection or copying except under the
33 following circumstances:
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1 (1) if requested by a law enforcement agency, to
2 the law enforcement agency; and
3 (2) if directed by a court order, to a person
4 identified in the order.
5 Section 35. Disclosure of address prohibited;
6 exceptions.
7 The Secretary of State may not make a program
8 participant's address, other than the address designated by
9 the Secretary of State, available for inspection or copying,
10 except under the following circumstances:
11 (a) if requested by a law enforcement agency, to the law
12 enforcement agency;
13 (b) if directed by a court order, to a person identified
14 in the order; and
15 (c) if certification has been canceled.
16 Section 40. Assistance for program applicants.
17 The Secretary of State shall designate State and local
18 agencies and nonprofit agencies that provide counseling and
19 shelter services to victims of domestic violence to assist
20 persons applying to be program participants. Any assistance
21 and counseling rendered by the office of the Secretary of
22 State or its designees to applicants shall in no way be
23 construed as legal advice.
24 Section 45. Rules. The Secretary of State may adopt
25 rules to facilitate the administration of this Act by State
26 and local agencies.
27 Section 100. The Election Code is amended by changing
28 Section 20-3 as follows:
29 (10 ILCS 5/20-3) (from Ch. 46, par. 20-3)
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1 Sec. 20-3. The election authority shall furnish the
2 following applications for absentee registration or absentee
3 ballot which shall be considered a method of application in
4 lieu of the official postcard.
5 1. Members of the United States Service and citizens of
6 the United States temporarily residing outside the
7 territorial limits of the United States may make application
8 within the periods prescribed in Sections 20-2 or 20-2.1, as
9 the case may be. Such application shall be substantially in
10 the following form:
11 "APPLICATION FOR BALLOT
12 To be voted at the............ election in the precinct
13 in which is located my residence at..............., in the
14 city/village/township of ............(insert home address)
15 County of........... and State of Illinois.
16 I state that I am a citizen of the United States; that on
17 (insert date of election) I shall have resided in the State
18 of Illinois and in the election precinct for 30 days; that
19 on the above date I shall be the age of 18 years or above;
20 that I am lawfully entitled to vote in such precinct at that
21 election; that I am (check category 1, or 2, or 3 below):
22 1. ( ) a member of the United States Service,
23 2. ( ) a citizen of the United States temporarily
24 residing outside the territorial limits of the United States
25 and that I expect to be absent from the said county of my
26 residence on the date of holding such election, and that I
27 will have no opportunity to vote in person on that day.
28 3. ( ) a certified program participant under the
29 Address Confidentiality for Victims of Domestic Violence Act.
30 I hereby make application for an official ballot or
31 ballots to be voted by me at such election if I am absent
32 from the said county of my residence, and I agree that I
33 shall return said ballot or ballots to the election authority
34 prior to the closing of the polls on the date of the election
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1 or shall destroy said ballot or ballots.
2 (Check below only if category 2 or 3 and not previously
3 registered)
4 ( ) I hereby make application to become registered as a
5 voter and agree to return the forms and affidavits for
6 registration to the election authority not later than 30 days
7 before the election.
8 Under penalties as provided by law pursuant to Article 29
9 of The Election Code, the undersigned certifies that the
10 statements set forth in this application are true and
11 correct.
12 .........................
13 Post office address or service address to which
14 registration materials or ballot should be mailed
15 .........................
16 .........................
17 .........................
18 ........................"
19 If application is made for a primary election ballot,
20 such application shall designate the name of the political
21 party with which the applicant is affiliated.
22 Such applications may be obtained from the election
23 authority having jurisdiction over the person's precinct of
24 residence.
25 2. A spouse or dependent of a member of the United
26 States Service, said spouse or dependent being a registered
27 voter in the county, may make application on behalf of said
28 person in the office of the election authority within the
29 periods prescribed in Section 20-2 which shall be
30 substantially in the following form:
31 "APPLICATION FOR BALLOT to be voted at the...........
32 election in the precinct in which is located the residence of
33 the person for whom this application is made
34 at.............(insert residence address) in the
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1 city/village/township of......... County of.......... and
2 State of Illinois.
3 I certify that the following named person................
4 (insert name of person) is a member of the United States
5 Service.
6 I state that said person is a citizen of the United
7 States; that on (insert date of election) said person shall
8 have resided in the State of Illinois and in the election
9 precinct for which this application is made for 30 days; that
10 on the above date said person shall be the age of 18 years or
11 above; that said person is lawfully entitled to vote in such
12 precinct at that election; that said person is a member of
13 the United States Service, and that in the course of his
14 duties said person expects to be absent from his county of
15 residence on the date of holding such election, and that said
16 person will have no opportunity to vote in person on that
17 day.
18 I hereby make application for an official ballot or
19 ballots to be voted by said person at such election and said
20 person agrees that he shall return said ballot or ballots to
21 the election authority prior to the closing of the polls on
22 the day of the election, or shall destroy said ballot or
23 ballots.
24 I hereby certify that I am the (mother, father, sister,
25 brother, husband or wife) of the said elector, and that I am
26 a registered voter in the election precinct for which this
27 application is made. (Strike all but one that is applicable.)
28 Under penalties as provided by law pursuant to Article 29
29 of The Election Code, the undersigned certifies that the
30 statements set forth in this application are true and
31 correct.
32 Name of applicant ......................
33 Residence address ........................
34 City/village/township........................
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1 Service address to which ballot should be mailed:
2 .........................
3 .........................
4 .........................
5 ........................"
6 If application is made for a primary election ballot,
7 such application shall designate the name of the political
8 party with which the person for whom application is made is
9 affiliated.
10 Such applications may be obtained from the election
11 authority having jurisdiction over the voting precinct in
12 which the person for whom application is made is entitled to
13 vote.
14 (Source: P.A. 81-0155; 81-0953; 81-1509.)