For Immediate Release
July 2, 2009
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Tomlinson Bill to Protect Privacy of Deceased Individuals Signed by Governor

Harrisburg – Legislation was signed into law today sponsored by Senator Tommy Tomlinson (R-Bucks) to eliminate the requirement that local registrars transmit death certificates to county boards of elections. 

Tomlinson said that this law preserves the confidentiality of deceased individuals by limiting the amount of information that is transmitted by registrars on death certificates. 

"The purpose of the law is to provide notification of a death to remove that individual from the voting rolls.  The cause of death is irrelevant," Tomlinson said. "This legislation would ensure that there is privacy regarding a person’s cause of death." 

The law requires the Department of Health to transmit monthly to the Department of State  an electronic file containing information on all resident deaths, except residents less than 18 years of age. The Department of State would then enter this information into the "SURE system" (the state registry of electors), which is used by the county boards of elections to purge the names of deceased voters.

Contact:

Fran Cleaver
(717) 787-5072