Address Confidentiality Policies: Ensuring Safe Voting Accessibility for Survivors of Violence

In the United States, the voting system gives people the ability to voice their opinions about the policies and practices that affect their lives, health, and well-being, but those affected by intimate partner and sexual violence face substantial barriers to participating in this system. Many of the power and control tactics used by those who perpetrate relationship violence actively work against survivors’ ability to vote and otherwise express their thoughts and views, not only during the relationship, but even after it ends. Address Confidentiality Policies (ACP) are one way that states and territories have attempted to lessen safety concerns associated with voting among survivors of violence by allowing them to use alternate addresses for public records requirements. However, low public awareness of policies, inconsistencies in approach, and barriers to participation have kept ACPs from being as successful as they could be. This perspectives article summarizes ACPs across the United States and advocates for more consistent, empowering, and universal application of ACPs to guarantee that survivors of violence and others that fear making their address known can participate equally in the voting system and ensure that their concerns are represented.