on 07-29-2009 00:45

By JIM BARON

PROVIDENCE — In a Statehouse ceremony Monday, Gov. Donald Carcieri signed a bill introduced by Pawtucket Rep. Elaine Coderre on behalf of Secretary of State Ralph Mollis that allows victims of domestic violence and their families to register to vote but prevents batterers from using voter lists to track them down.

Coderre cited the passage of the legislation as “a perfect example of how government is supposed to work.”
She said domestic violence victims came to Mollis with the problem that abusers were using voting rolls to track down spouses and partners who had fled the relationship. Mollis' office approached her and Senate sponsor Maryellen Goodwin with language to change the law, they shepherded legislation through the General Assembly and on Monday Carcieri affixed his signature to formalize it into law.
Coderre, who worked at a women's shelter for several years, told the two dozen or so people who came to witness the bill signing that, “I don't think, unless you work in this field, that you really understand how the victims are stalked, how the very basic things such as registering to vote or going to vote” can lead to being found by a batterer. Not only are the victims terrorized and their lives impacted, she said, but so are the lives of their children, family members and friends.
Deborah DeBare, executive director of the RI Coalition Against Domestic Violence, said that when the legislation was first introduced, there were fears “that you would have thousands of people trying to hide their addresses, that there would be a secret list of voters that would be developed. The reality is that most victims of domestic violence are able to live safely in their homes because we have strong laws that have been passed by the legislature in prior years.”
But for victims that are in danger, DeBare said, “those that need to flee their own homes, the right to vote, and feeling safe registering to vote, is absolutely critical to help them feel that they are part of society and they are still normal, that they still have a life. And it is one more thing that their abusers are not able to take away from them.”
Theresa Doyle-Parillo, a survivor of domestic abuse, said “it is important to many victims to continue to exercise their right to vote at each and every opportunity.”
Mollis explained that victims would appear on the voting lists of their communities and would be allowed to vote for local as well as national candidates, but the address next to their name on the list would not be their actual address. He said it would likely be the address of the secretary of state's office.
“We are preventing perpetrators from using the voter registration information of people living with victims to uncover their addresses,” Mollis said. “We should not allow abusers to continue to control victims by forcing their support network to choose between voting and protecting their loved ones.”
In a related development, Sen. Jack Reed announced Monday that Rhode Island is in line to receive just under a million dollars to “prevent domestic violence, hold offenders accountable, and ensure that victims have access to supportive services.      
Reed said the Rhode Island Justice Commission (RIJC) is receiving $908,000 in federal funding for its STOP (Services, Training, Officers, Prosecutors) Violence Against Women Program.  Federal STOP grants help promote a coordinated, multidisciplinary approach to improving the criminal justice system's response to violent crimes against women.
"This STOP Violence Against Women Program funding will help police officers,
prosecutors, and local shelters work together and coordinate their efforts to help
victims and prevent domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking.  These federal
funds will help law enforcement officers protect victims of domestic violence and
bring their abusers to justice," said Reed, a member of the Senate Appropriations
subcommittee that funds Department of Justice programs.