Virginia has become the latest US state to pass a law granting anonymity to lottery winners.
Bill 1799 was introduced by state Representative Scott A Wyatt in early January and, after approval by the House and Senate, has been signed into law.
Governor Glenn Youngkin signed the Bill into law last week, with the legislation dropping the threshold for anonymity from wins of $10m to $1m.
A summary of the Bill states that its purpose is to: “Prohibits the Virginia Lottery (the Department) from disclosing information about any individual winner whose prize is $1m or greater and exempts such information from disclosure under the Virginia Freedom of Information Act unless the winner consents to such disclosure.
“Under current law, the Department is prohibited from disclosing information about any individual winner whose prize exceeds $10m.”
Supporters of the legislation, such as House sponsor Wyatt, argue that lottery winners should be afforded greater protection of privacy. Similar arguments have been heard in Oregon, which also recently changed its laws.
House Bill 3115 was approved by the state legislature earlier this month, though the Bill’s initial purpose was not to protect the anonymity of lottery winners. The Bill was actually launched to prevent the resale of lottery prizes and prevent people from claiming winnings on behalf of others.
However, it was amended in the House to include caveats giving lottery winners the right to keep their identity hidden when collecting wins. For other lottery markets, this will not come as a big deal.
In the UK, for example, lottery winners have the right to keep their identity hidden regardless of how big the win is. This is widely considered to be a fair protection of privacy, while also preventing winners from the risk of scammers, stalkers, or other forms of harassment.
This sentiment is not entirely shared in the US, however. Concerns about integrity have abounded in the US lottery sector, particularly in the context of a number of incidents of rigging and bulk buying scams, the latter being the centre of legislative and regulatory debate in Texas.
Lottery Daily has reached out to the Virginia Lottery for comment.