Program allows victims to vote without making address public

SEATTLE (AP) - A Washington state program allows victims of crime to register to vote without releasing their addresses to the public.

KCPQ-TV reports that survivors of domestic violence could be potentially put into danger if they create public records, like registering to vote or applying for a marriage license.

The state’s Address Confidentiality Program helps survivors keep their new location hidden by providing a substitute address.

Rachel Krinsky, executive director for the advocacy organization LifeWire, says the program routes mail to a single address in Olympia, so “even the city where the survivor resides remains secret.”

She says there are “hassles involved,” but it allows a person to “still correspond with the outside world and to vote.”

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Information from: KCPQ-TV, http://q13fox.com/