SACRAMENTO, September 27, 2007 – A bill by Assemblymember Curren Price (D-Inglewood) to protect the privacy and safety of victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking was signed by Governor Schwarzenegger yesterday.

AB 603 ensures the continued operation of a portion of the Safe at Home program that allows victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking to have their voter registration information made confidential if they have reason to fear for their safety. 

California's Safe at Home program, in operation since 1999, allows victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking, and reproductive health care service providers, employees, volunteers, and patients, to keep their residential addresses confidential by providing a substitute address for use by state and local agencies in public records.  Participants in the Safe at Home program use a substitute address provided by the Secretary of State, who forwards their mail to their actual addresses.  State and local agencies are required to accept the substitute address when presented with proof that a person is participating in the program. 

Last year, the Legislature extended the operation of the Safe at Home program until at least 2013, but the confidential voter registration portion of the project was scheduled to expire on January 1, 2008.  While all voters' registration information is confidential, and access to such information is limited, participants in the Safe at Home program will also have their addresses and phone numbers kept confidential from candidates and campaign workers.   “The Safe at Home program has helped protect the privacy and safety of thousands of victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking,” said Assemblymember Price, Chair of the Assembly Elections & Redistricting Committee.  “AB 603 ensures that those victims can continue to exercise their most basic right – the right to vote – without having to fear for their safety and security."

AB 603 was approved unanimously by both houses of the Legislature, and will take effect on January 1, 2008.  It is the fourth of freshman Assemblymember Price’s bills that have been signed by the governor.

Assemblymember Curren Price serves the 51st Assembly District, which includes Inglewood, Hawthorne, Gardena, Playa Vista, Westchester, Lawndale, West Athens, Lennox, Alondra Park, West Compton, Del Aire, and Willowbrook, as well as portions of the unincorporated area of Ladera.