What about the Electors' Privacy?

Several people have told us that they think that we are intruding on the electors' privacy by posting their names and contact information (addresses, phone numbers, and e-mail addresses). We disagree, although we understand their concerns, and we applaud people's apparent regard for others' privacy. We feel that it is appropriate -- ethically and legally -- for us to post the electors' names and contact information.

1. THE ELECTORS ARE PUBLIC OFFICIALS.
   
   • People vote for presidential electors, not presidential candidates. The electors have the responsibility of voting for a presidential candidate on behalf of their constituents. Because each elector is an elected public official, all citizens should have the ability to contact the electors.
     
     
   • Virtually all electors are high-ranking party officials. Many of them are former governors or US Representatives or Senators. Many of them currently hold elected office.
   
   
2. THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE IS A DELIBERATIVE BODY. The Constitution's Framers expected the electors to convene to discuss the presidential candidates amongst themselves, and eventually the electors would individually decide which candidate to vote for. The electors are already being contacted by members of their parties and the media. Citizens, too, should be able to indirectly participate in this process by contacting members of the Electoral College.
   
   
3. THE ELECTORS' CONTACT INFORMATION IS PUBLICLY AVAILABLE. Each state's Secretary of State has a list of the names and addresses of all electors. Many states post this information on their web sites. When we could not find the relevant information on a state government web site, we called the Secretary of State's office. Every state disclosed the information that we requested.
   
   Several states did not have the electors' phone numbers, and some did not have the electors' complete addresses (i.e. they only had the electors' cities of residence). In these cases, we used publicly available databases or independent web sites to find more detailed contact information.
   
   
4. WE DO NOT ALLOW INDIVIDUALS TO USE OUR LIST TO HARASS, THREATEN, OR INTIMIDATE ELECTORS. To encourage courtesy, we offer a very polite sample message. We advise individuals to respect electors' opinions, even if we happen to disagree with those opinions.