voter-files

This repository contains a set of Python and R scripts to parse voting registration files in the United States into CSV files with the same variables:

• voter_id
• first_name
• middle_name
• last_name
• birth_date
• gender
• turnout2008
• turnout2010
• turnout2012
• turnout2014
• party_affiliation_2008
• party_affiliation_2010
• party_affiliation_2012
• party_affiliation_2014
• party_affiliation (current)
• residential_address
• zipcode
• race, ethnicity (in Florida and North Carolina)

When any of these variables is not available, that column will be left empty (NA). The idea is to be able to easily merge all these files if so desired.

Pull requests, comments, and suggestions are very welcome!

Legal restrictions

Most states have restrictions against commercial or non-political use. For a summary of usage restrictions, see NCSL's Access To and Use Of Voter Registration Lists.

Availability of voter files across states

The following lists contains details about if/where voting registration records for each state are available, how much it would cost to obtain them, and other details. (I will expand this list over the next few months.)

To be clear: this repository does NOT contain any data.

Classification:

• 😄 Available at low cost ($100 or less) or free
• 💸 Available at high cost (more than $100)
• 😞 No information online about how to acquire voter file

💸 Alabama

The Secretary of State links to an interactive site that searches by multiple criteria and provides an instant price. As of March 2021, there were 3.5M active voters for a cost of $35K.

Alaska

It appears to be possible to request it via email. A list with contact information is here.

💸 Arizona

Costs used to be much higher, but are now somewhat lower due to a lawsuit.

Individual county recorders offices are responsible for maintaining the permanent voter files in AZ.

• Apache County
• Cochise County
• Coconino County (Unclear if available)
• Gila County
• Graham County
• Greenlee County
• La Paz County (Unclear if available)
• Maricopa County
• Mohave County (Unclear if available)
• Navajo County (Unclear if available)
• Pima County (Unclear if available)
• Pinal County
• Santa Cruz County (Unclear if available)
• Yavapai County
• Yuma County (Unclear if available)

😄 Arkansas

The voter registration file can be requested using the form here, which has to be mailed along with $2.50 per file. A copy of the voter list appears to be also available online for free on this website.

California

http://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/contact/email-elections-division/

😄 Colorado

The registered voter list and voter history list can be requested using the form here, at a cost of $50 each. There appears to be a free copy of all the files on this website as well.

😄 Connecticut

The voter registry file can be purchased at a cost of $300 by contacting the Secretary of State as detailed here. A copy of the voter list appears to be also available online for free on this website.

😄 Delaware

The voter file can be requested using the form here, at a cost of $10 (in CD format). A copy of the voter list appears to be also available online for free on this website.

😄 Florida

The voter file can be requested using voter extract disk request form, and there is no fee for "this complimentary disk." A copy of the voter list appears to be also available online for free on this website.

💸 Georgia

Voter history files are freely available here, but these do not include voters information. These need to be requested (and will be delivered on a CD) with this form at a cost of $500. There's more information here. I also found this GitHub repo with python scripts to parse these files.

Hawaii

Idaho

The Idaho voter file is available through a public records request for non-commercial purposes. The Secretary of State provides the following statement on their FAQ:

"Idaho law requires the Secretary of State’s office to provide this information in response to public records requests."

Illinois

Illinois makes their voter information available via paper medium "for election, scholarly, journalistic, political or governmental purposes"1 Digital records are available to political organizations that complete a D-1 Statement of Organization.

💸 Indiana

Indiana makes computerized access to the list available to political parties and media organizations, along with elected officials. A request must be made to the Indiana Election Division. The "election division shall charge each person [...] an annual subscription fee of five thousand dollars ($5,000)" More information can be found in the Indiana Code.

💸 Iowa

Individuals can request an Iowa statewide voter registration list through the Iowa Secratary of State here. The statewide list with updates is provided at the cost of $1,500 a year.

💸 Kansas

Voter files can be requested from the Office of the Secretary of State using the form here. The full state costs $200 with additional costs for other options and delivery is by CD or email, depending on the request.

Kentucky

I also found this GitHub repo with python scripts to parse these files.

💸 Louisiana

Statewide lists are available to approved entities upon request at a cost not to exceed $5,000. Requests must be made through the Secretary of State's web request application.

Document detailing how to convert the tab delimited file to an Excel document. Voter list cost information.

Maine

Maryland

Massachusetts

😄 Michigan

A copy of the voter list appears to be also available online for free on this website.

Minnesota

Mississippi

Missouri

💸 Montana

The voter file is available online here, but the cost of obtaining the statewide dataset is $1,000.

Nebraska

😄 Nevada

The voter file is available online here, but it is first necessary to send a signed official request via fax or mail.

New Hampshire

New Jersey

I also found this GitHub repo with PHP scripts to parse these files.

New Mexico

😄 New York

There's an online form to request voter registration data, documented on their FOIL page. There's no cost, and data is sent on CD via USPS, arriving in about a week.

Repos on working with New York voter files:

• https://github.com/civic-data/NYS-Voter-File
• https://github.com/sajacy/nys-voters

North Carolina

• https://github.com/offensivepolitics/wake-county-voter-file-analysis
• http://dl.ncsbe.gov/
• http://dl.ncsbe.gov/index.html

North Dakota

😄 Ohio

😄 Oklahoma

A copy of the voter list appears to be also available online for free on this website.

💸 Oregon

The voter file can be requested here at a cost of $500 for the statewide voter list.

Pennsylvania

Rhode Island

A copy of the voter list appears to be also available online for free on this website.

💸 South Carolina

The voter file is available online here, but the cost of obtaining the statewide dataset is $2,500.

South Dakota

Tennessee

Texas

💸 Utah

The voter file can be requested here at a cost of $1,050. Note that this file does not include voters' birth dates. And old version of this file was available here.

Vermont

Virginia

😄 Washington

The Voter registration database is freely available for download here. A list of database fields can be found here.

💸 West Virginia

Voter files can be requested in various ways by filling out a form and returning it to the West Virginia's Secretary of State's office via fax, email, or mail.
The exports come in a variety of options including the statewide voter registration list for $500 and the master voter history list for $500.

💸 Wisconsin

Voter files (sliced various ways, etc.) can be requested via an online system (documentation) for $25 plus $5 per thousand voters, up to a maximum cost of $12,500.

Wyoming

Washington DC

Available on this GitHub repository.