This is actually not a bad idea i  like to see the pictures but safety first i guess

I definitely support the identities of winners to be hidden.

Good   for   Pa.   

I  hope  they   do

I   think  all   states   should    do    that

Congress  asks  the  WH   for  stuff  all  the  time  and  they  wont  release  much

So  if  they  can  hide   stuff..............why  cant  a   lottery  winners  name  be  hidden   also   

I  have  always  felt  that  a   large  lottery  winner  should  have  the  option   to   remain  anonymous

If   they  so   chose   to   do   so

I  also  think  they  should  not  tax  lottery  winnings  ( like  Canada )  but  we  all  know  that  aint  gonna  happen

I agree

I am from Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania and I support this 100%!

The Greed of Envy & too many crooks make this necessary!

I Love this but only selfishly. I've deliberately gone out of my way to purchase tickets in anonymous Lottery States because if i win i want NO ONE to know. I love this move but its a slippery slope. If i win, i want to remain anonymous. If you win, you want to remain anonymous, fair. But what happens when it all goes 'dark' and no one really knows anyone who wins??? Not good. Its tricky and i'm not sure what the solution is. Maybe it could be set up where if the win is a multi-state pot (PB/MM) then one has the right to remain in the dark, but if its a State Lottery, then it becomes public record? Not ideal but as much as i would love to and would choose to remain anonymous, it'd get a bit interesting to say the least is no one ever anyone who really won. Especially with these jackpots going to the clouds now a days. Both sides have valid points, not sure which i ultimately side with. What's your opinion, please do share...

Won't pass, that would make way to much sense. Silly lawmaker what was he thinking........

This is a great move. Nobody needs to know the identities of the winners. I hope other states also do this.

Independent auditor would be a solution.

I don't think it'll ever "go dark."  There are plenty of people out there who relish the spotlight and want their 15 minutes.  Idaho Lottery does not require photos or any publicity other than releasing name and city, but go to their web page and it's plastered with photos of people winning up to 100K.  A LEO won a few hundred thou a couple years ago, and he did the televised interview and photo ops.

Anybody up to research whether any big winners in anonymous states have chosen to release their names?

This is a great idea, I'm surprised a politician came up with it. Let's see if this great idea goes from legislation to actually making it to the Governor's desk to be signed and become law.

First name last initial seems reasonable for all state lotteries to move to if they currently release full name

This shouldn't even be a question. And the lottery really needs to stop pretending that it's for the sake of transparency. Is anyone really buying that? Both PB and MM changed their structure to pretty much guarantee MUCH larger jackpots. The more money that is involved the crazier people get. The lottery officials should worry less about milking free publicity and more about the safety of the winners. The size of the JP themselves should be enough of a draw. Publicizing the win should be left up to the winner. 

As I said yesterday in a discussion, there are enough winners who relish showing off and who love basking in the limelight that the lottery will get to do its capitalizing on the rags to riches story from those who opt to give a press conference. But that should really be the winners' choice, it shouldn't be a forced issue.

They already have an independent auditor. Which is why this has nothing at all to do with transparency and all about the publicity they get from the news conferences. Look what they did to poor Gloria. If publicizing her name, age and address weren't enough, they called the media when she went to the lottery office to fill out her paperwork. It wasn't enough for them to give out her details, they WANTED a camera crew there too. Transparency my backside.

I guess I'm in the minority here: I don't like anonymous.

There's several different levels of publication of winners in different states:

1. Full disclosure: Full name given out in marketing/promotion and cannot be refused.
2. Partial disclosure: Marketing/promotion can be refused, only first name and last initial shown in an initial listing. No picture with ginormous check, no other promos. But person's full name is given out on public records request.
3. Trust option: same as #2, except that if you claim as a trust, only the name of the trust is given out on public records request, not the name of the winner.
4. Anonymous: no disclosure of winner at all.

I'm comfortable with #3 that we have now.

There is a need to know. But if someone really wants to be anonymous, they can form a trust. That way there's some effort required.

And they could even do things like delay public records disclosure, which is done in other cases. Say for about a year or so to give you time to get away, set up your affairs and security.

I was thinking about this the other day.  I see both sides, but my main concern would be my safety.  I can deal with phone calls, letters, emails and such, but worry about people that find my address and decide to show up at my door. 

In California, full names and location are used in their promotional materials. 

I like the first name, last name initial method.  If I happen to get lucky, I may need to research the trust option.

We need this in New York.

Sorry, but other than us being nosy and wanting to get an insight into the type of person that won, why do you need to know? It certainly isn't any of our business, and it certainly doesn't benefit the person who wins an enormous sum of money. The lottery works just fine in other developed countries who don't reveal the winner's identity, and with $100M or more becoming increasing common, that alone is a big enough draw to get people to play it. 

PriceWaterhouseCoopers and other big name accounting firms have been doing audits on lotteries for years, that should be enough for any non-tinfoil hat wearing individual to believe that the lottery and lottery winnres are real.

How much have they claimed they've given to education? Over a billion dollars. Well, I haven't seen them trot out any school officials in front of a camera to vouch that they've actually given up that amount of money, but I do know that since they get audited they can't make that kind of claim without ending up in court. 

Therefore, if we have to take their word about how much they donate to schools and the community, why we can take their word about who wins a JP. And notice, they are only interested in the JP winners. I don't see them mandating press conferences or calling for media appearances for the $10,000 winners. They claim X number of people win $10,000, $25,000 etc per week and we take their word on that. 

Given all of that, it is patently obviously that  transparency is simply an excuse. Your WANT (not need) to know who won a JP should not outweigh that person's personal safety. How many death threats, slashed tires and murders have to be committed to prove that the individual's well-being should supercede a skeptic's doubt?

Anonymity is completely logical. Say you've had a succesful enough career that you live exactly where you want to live in the house you've grown to love. You win the lottery and they release your name, your city, the location of where you purchased your ticket and now it''ll take 30 seconds for someone to find you. As I pointed out to my father the other night, if I win the lottery what's to stop people who know of me going to their house to pester my family about my money when it's got nothing to do with them, but because it's where I was known to have lived growing up, their home is now a target? That's completely unfair. The number one thing lottery winners report is the stress of dealing with all the strangers and long lost acquaintances who heard about your good fortune and convince themselves they're deserving of a hand out for one reason or another, let alone the people willing and wanting to do harm out of jealousy or in an attempt to extort the winner and their families. It's just good sense to keep winners anonymous, let them *choose* to go public or not.

Savagegoose once mentioned that Australian playslips have a NP option - No Publicity or something. Sounds like a great idea.

I figure jackpot winners can either remain anonymous (if allowed by their state) or wish they had remained anonymous.

I don't get people that demand to know who won......sorry, no need to know and not on the access roster.

It's not my right to know, it's the public's right to know what their government is doing with their money.

The lottery is a government run monopoly gambling operation. Wouldn't you like to play pick 3 for $900 str at your local shop? You can't, because the lottery has a monopoly.

Government is corrupt, and requires transparency so that the public and the press can inspect what THEIR government is doing and how funds are being spent. Lottery is essentially fundraising with an entertainment twist, also can be seen as a regressive tax.

Do you think criminals would commit crimes more, less or the same, if they knew nobody was watching? If everything was anonymous and nobody outside the lottery could check, do you think there would there be more fraud or less?

People often criticise celebrities for complaining about, "oh, I can't go around in public anonymously anymore, I'm too rich and famous. Poor me, life is so hard." Well, there are consequences with having all that fame, money and power. you give some things up. Lottery winners expect everything to be the same when they win hundreds of millions of dollars, and that's just not the way the world goes round. Suck it up, and deal with it. Or you can form a trust and hide.

Jon D,

"It's not my right to know, it's the public's right to know what their government is doing with their money."

Then how come so many 'publics' in so many countries are just fine with winners being anonymous - and not taxed? And what about the winner's rights? Should a jackpot winner be innundated with pleas from charities and deals from shysters and who knows what else just because some obnoxioulsy nosey clods somewhere think they have a 'right' to know who won?

If you really think the government has a monopoly on gambling, how come there are so many bookies? There's even bookies in Las Vegas - not the sports books, but bookies. The money legally bet on football in this country is mere chump change compared to what is bet illegally. The Super Bowl is a prime example.

Ever heard of Jessica Savitch? She was an investigative reporter doing a piece on illegal sports betting and her car went down a hill in a 'mudslide' in NJ.

And there are plenty of people still playing "Policy" or "The Number" with their 'man' - you would know these games as Pick 3.

Here's what the bookies know, legal or illegal, players are going to find the action.

You also said,

" If everything was anonymous and nobody outside the lottery could check, do you think there would there be more fraud or less?"

Please then tell us how you explain the states that allow players to be anonymous.

Yes, they have a monopoly on LEGAL lottery gaming. If your argument is based on illegal activity, that is beyond the scope of my argument. Thanks.

Jon D,

Thanks for the reply and you adjusred your statement to legal gambling.

Don't know if he's still active but there was a bookie in NY, dealth with a lot of Wall Street types. His policy was $50,000 minimum bet per game, two game minimum to bet with him. Not exactly an office pool on the Super Bowl here. Oh yeah, both he and his clients preferred remaining anonymous!

Here's a little known fact, bookies are required to get a Federal Tax Stamp (used to cost about $50, not sure now - and who really does this?) but when they get pinched if they get sentenced having the stamp reduces the sentence.

Good idea! Only way is to move near other rich people. 

One of the most important decisions for new winners to make is whether to opt to go public or remain anonymous. If a winner decides to talk publicly about their win, Camelot’s PR team will organise a press conference and handle all media interest on their behalf, removing the anxiety that can accompany talking about a big win.

If they have requested to remain anonymous, Camelot takes its obligations and duty of care to protect winners’ privacy very seriously. Unless a winner agrees to take full publicity and signs an agreement to that effect, no information about them can be released by Camelot into the public domain.

Camelot UK Lotteries Ltd are the current UK national lottery operators

Agreed Jon D. 

I also don't understand why all winners don't claim in a trust for the protection.

Even just the first letter of someone's last name could be enough to still find them unless they live in well populated county and have a fairly common (or commonly spelled) first name. Still better than your whole name though. It's important to at least have options to protect your identity.

I found this on California Lottery Winner's Handbook - "You can form a trust prior to claiming your prize, but understand that your name is still public and reportable."  I don't have enough knowledge on trusts to comment, but this tidbit is disturbing.

myturn got me curious about Australia so I went to the Australian lottery website (interesting games!).

The FAQ page provided a link to The Australia.NationalLottery.com which has this information about Publicity / No Publicity:

Publicity or No Publicity

Lottery publicity is not something that is discussed a great deal, but since winners are almost always given a choice as to whether or not they would like details of their win to be publicised, it makes sense to consider publicity in advance.

There are two common schools of thought in regards to publicity. One says that publicity is a bad thing because it will result in the lottery winner being overwhelmed with a deluge of requests for money and generosity. People who hold this opinion will normally suggest refusing publicity in the hope of keeping the lottery win a secret. The other school of thought says that even if one tried to keep a lottery win secret, news of the win would eventually leak out via talkative friends or family members, and so opting for publicity from the outset gets the public attention over and done with right at the beginning.

Whilst lottery players are of course free to make their own minds up on this matter, it is worth bearing the following notes about lottery publicity in mind before doing so:

• When you opt for privacy, all you are doing is asking the lottery operator to refrain from communicating your name or details of your personal life, such as the job you do. It is still possible that an investigative journalist could find out who you are, or that a jealous neighbour could call the local newspaper. Requesting “no publicity” from the lottery company does not therefore guarantee that you won’t get publicity in reality.
• Lottery publicity doesn’t usually last a long time, unless you have won a record-breaking jackpot. It is therefore possible to opt for publicity and then disappear from the public eye after your fifteen minutes of fame have expired – usually when the next big lottery winner goes public.
• If you don’t opt for publicity, you will need to come up with a non-lottery explanation for how you are suddenly able to buy a brand new home, drive a top-of-the-range car, take several luxury holidays a year and generally live like a king. Or, if you can’t do that, you will have to consider forgoing such luxuries for a quiet life.

Should you win a major lottery prize, it will be helpful to have at least thought about publicity before you are asked whether or not you want it. The good news is that there is no right or wrong answer, so as long as you are happy with your decision you have confidence in and stick with it.

______________________________________________________

Some of thr above has beren alluded to in some discussions here on LP but I think it's great that they give their players the option. All US lotteriy states should consider this.

That maks absolutely no sense whatsoever. Well, when you receive a tax refund it's you getting money back from the same corrupt government, Why don't we start taking out pages in the newspapaer and letting everyone know how much you got back from them to keep things transparent and let us all know if they are being honest or not. 

The lottery is audited by an INDEPENDENT 3rd party. By the very definition, it means that they are an outside entity that checks on what is reported. Or did you miss that little fact? That alone rebutts your need to publish any winner's identity proves you have no reason for your 'need to know' than pointless conspiracy theories and incorrect data. 

That's what the auditors there to do. Audit and keep things on the up and up. Their job goes much farther in keeping the lottery honest than parading a poor fool in front of the media. What does that prove? And as I've said before, you all seem to have no issues trusting that the number of $10,000, $25,000 or $100,000 or even $500 winners is accurate, even though there is no press conference given for them. You take the lottery at its word on that. Just like you take them at their word that they've donated $1.3 billion to education. 

No one else's life or safety should be put in jeopardy simply because you have a mistrust of the government. You don't like the government so for that reason a citizen's life should be jeopardized. Yeah, that makes so much sense. (insert sarcasm here)

Hope the PA assembly votes for this bill to permit lottery winners to be anonymous.

Thought NJ allowed anonymity of big jackpots winners but Todd knows best since he is in N.J. 

A tax refund means the government took out more of their money than they actually owed. It's not the same thing. When people have to pay forced/mandatory taxation, they deserve and have a right to know where their portion of the money goes. That's all people are asking for: where did my money go, not where everyone else's money went, but they care about that too.

So, as for your independent auditor, they look at the financials. And they look at the lottery budget compared to the expenses. On average around 30% of revenue goes towards public benefic benefit while 60% of revenue goes towards prize expense. Citizens and the press needs to be involved or have the ability to be involved to do inspections beyond the basic financials and look for other abuses beyond or after the payments themselves have been made. And if you cut off the 60% of expenses from view by making all prize winners anonymous, will that help or hurt? Or will you expand the auditor's scope of work dramatically and give only this independent auditor access to winners names, but not the citizens of the state? That just don't sit right.

Kinda reminds me of the NSA and the FISA court: Don't worry folks, the NSA's activities are overseen by and authorized by an independent outside FISA court, nothing's going on that isn't on the up and up. You sheeple don't need to know what the NSA is doing, don't worry about it and accept that they are working for you. Nothing to see here. Move along folks!

We in the USofA don't just do what other countries do. Our way may be harder, slower, with checks and balances and accountability to the public. But we believe our Constitutional Republic is better than other Republics like the People's Republic of China, or the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. We believe we do it better.

I called my State Representative & my State Senator to support this common sense measure.

People try to scam others regardless the level of personal wealth of the intended victim.

It would also go a long way in protecting the safety of the winners and their families!

I wish more states would do this.  I feel it should be an option.   I mean at this point if people don't know if the Lottery is real?  I don't see how showing the winner, interviewing them, posting their photo will make it more convincing.  If a person wants to have their business out there when they win that's their right.  I also feel if people want to remain anoymous they should have that option.  All States need to do this.

Why is there a need to know? 

When the jackpot rolls back to the lowest amount, we know someone won.  Why do we really need to know WHO won, and what their plans are?  I simply do not get that.

I believe in state's rights. Each state should decide on their own. I was giving my opinion on the issue. Eash person in each state can give theirs. To each his own.

I personally would refuse publicity, that's probably where most of the shenanigans come from. I don't agree with some states that require press conference or use you in marketing whether you want it or not. But that is their choice.

But I support open records and the rights of a researcher to request records.

If you claim as a Trust in PA, your name is still published!

Well, see, that's the problem right there. The rules and procedures are messed up.

If you lived in Texas that wouldn't happen:

http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Trust-keeps-24-million-jackpot-winner-anonymous-3848371.php

Oh puh-lease. This is all hogwash and you know it. So spare me. 

Tax dollars aren't going towards funding any jackpots, so the public has ZERO right to know. When our taxpayers start funding the megajackpots THEN you MIGHT have a case, until then, it's simply you being both nosey and paranoid. 

Secondly, since when should a resident's well being come second to...anything? Kidnapping threats, murder plots, harassment, stalking (the list goes on) should be taken in stride because YOU don't feel an independent auditor should be trusted? Their safety put at risk because you feel we may be scammed otherwise. I'll tell you what, I would much rather the risk of my $1 here and there be scammed than someone murdered or their child kidnapped for ransom money simply because SOMEONE felt winners names should be publicized. 

If you can't trust an independent audit from some of the largest accounting firms in the world, then why do you trust someone plucked from obscurity and thrust in front of a camera? How do we know they even legitimately won? If trust and integrity are up for grabs, then everything to do with the lottery is. That goes for assuming the balls are picked randomly. We trust the people who monitor things like the weight of the balls etc that everything is on the up and up with that, but where you draw the line is on a winner's anonymity even when their safety is at risk. Ooooohkaaaay. Yeah. That makes sense.

If the government wanted to go through the trouble  of scamming us via the lottery system, I guarantee you that they aren't going to be foiled by the publishing of a name or putting a person in front of a camera. You think they have some big ulterior plan to take hundreds of millions of dollars from the lottery and publishing a name is what's going to trip them up? You cannot possibly be seriously!

That's easy to say when your name isn't Zachary Wursterfield-Doddingsworth.

From the public's perspective, it's simply called being nosey. From the lottery's perspective it's free publicity. Neither is for the benefit of the JP winner. Quite the opposite. It's to the winner's detriment. Nosiness and the almighty dollar shouldn't be put ahead of someone's life. One day someone's child is going to be kidnapped or someone is going to be killed in direction relation to a winner's name being publicized, and when that bad publicity and a lawsuit comes out of it, only then will the lottery be forced to rethink their stance. I hope it doesn't come to that so I hope this law passes and that other states follow suit.

That mudslide was so bad, the car ended up in a canal in Pennsylvania, in a funky little place called New Hope (there's some irony in that, I think). There was nothing to indicate that it was anything more than the driver leaving a restaurant by the wrong exit and missing a turn in heavy rain. And there was no mudslide. And she was investigating the death of an Italian banker, not sports betting.

"Please then tell us how you explain the states that allow players to be anonymous."

Please explain how you know there's no fraud in those states' lotteries. How do you know that the beneficiary of one of Ohio's many anonymous lottery "wins" wasn't really some lottery officals or even the state as a whole when there's nobody even pretending they won the money?

"Tax dollars aren't going towards funding any jackpots"

It isn't who the money came from, it's the fact that the government is spending money that has become public funds. The difference lottery payouts being part of the public record and tax refunds not being public records is that, the tax refunds were never public funds (as Jon D noted) and paying taxes isn't voluntary.

"you all seem to have no issues trusting that the number of $10,000, $25,000 or $100,000 or even $500 winners is accurate"

In theory that can be verified by checking with all of the reported winners. More practically, it can be disproven by establishing that even a single  one of the reported winners didn't win.

"We trust the people who monitor things like the weight of the balls"

Isn't that one of those things that  the independent auditors are verifying?  Besides, what reason does the lottery have to not work hard at keeping the drawings fair, unless lack of transparency offered them an advtage to letting the drawings be non-random?

Lack of anonymity may not make it readily obvious that the lottery is at least trying to be completely fair, but it makes it much easier to investigate.

This works for me, only people very close to me know my real first name and most other people call me by a nickname they think is my real name.

Jersey had a bill for temp. anonymity for 1 year but the Gov. chickened out and did'nt sign so Jersey will get another chance after he runs for Pres.

I would do press conference, but I would be so subdued and boring that no international or major network would want to air it. That way, I would fulfill my obligation to the lottery while lessening the demand for video/photo. Plus I would take my jetsetting ways to a higher level, so good luck on all the bums, scammers, and moochers trying to catch up with me for a handout.  Speaking of handouts, I saw a bunch of beggars all around Phoenix.  If you win, just don't try to channel your inner Duck Dynasty or comedic self.  That gets you invites to the morning shows and night shows. But if you are just hum drum boring, your 15 minutes of fame will be limited to the lottery press conference. Remember, speak in monotones and just say you will go to living on an airplane...that you will maybe buy a Ford Focus and aspire to live your dreams (key is to be stupidly down to earth, vague and boring). Do not say you have a great moral responsibility or that you will give to charity and church. That right there is an invitation to get hounded until you die for donations.

I was thinking of you, dpoly1, when I heard this great individual's safety/comfort proposal.  I, too, hope that PA becomes an additional lottery winner "anonymous state"!

You mean your name's not Mr. Hay Maker?

No wonder I can't find you in the phone book.

If you take the down to earth angle the news will sensationalize and make you out as an every-man. You will still get hounded. For every winner you hear about that did TV appearances and seemingly asked for the limelight, there are dozens of others that did the bare minimum required to claim and still get hounded on the regular without a journalist telling the story.

LOL

Mountain Man,

That's even better , the phone is still in my wife's maiden name so that just confuses things even more

Yea, got some other things that mix things up.

Maybe you may consider moving to Florida where those controversial "stand your ground" rules can protect you, for a couple months ago, that boastdul man that won a Powerball Jackpot brandished his shot gun at any of those people that turned up to beg for handouts from his lotto wins.

As far as I know, in the states that allow anonymity you still have to form a trust in order to not have your name disclosed. You can't just checkmark a box or sign papers upon claiming telling the state lottery office you don't want your name made public. You're allowed to go through the legal process (forming trust) to make this happen, but if you don't do this your name gets put out there.

Forming a trust and collecting JP in states that do not allow anonymity is worthless in terms of concealing your identity.

Right. So you trust the auditors with keeping EVERY other aspect of the lottery on the up and up, but they can't be trusted to be honest about who wins if it isn't announced. Boy that makes a whole lotta sense.

and then you actually ask what reason the lottery has for not keeping the drawings fair while at the same time claiming they won't be fair about who wins without publicizing the winner. Do you even bother to think about what you write or do you just have comment and take opposite side of whatever my position is? No matter how ridiculous you have to make your argument.

that was exactly my point. We trust the auditors and regulators to do their job in every other area of the lottery so let trust them to do their jobs in this too and quit putting people's lives at risk simply to ease your own paranoia.

Check again, link I posted previously:

http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Trust-keeps-24-million-jackpot-winner-anonymous-3848371.php

Texas by law does not allow winners to be anonymous, but a winner doesn't have to be a person.

Yep. I was thinking the same thing. If you come across as shy, quiet and unassuming, they will paint you as a humble saint and simply start tracking down past coworkers or relatives to get the inside scoop on you. Being brash and bold may keep the attention on you but it also keeps the media from looking for a story from someone else. Look how they went to Gloria's ex-daughter in law for a story when Gloria didn't hold a press conference. You can't escape it either way.

And for all of the other people who don't live in Texas...what about them. Either every state should give you the option of claiming anonymously via a trust, or, allow for total anonymity without a trust. But forcing JP winners to reveal their identities or worse, forcing a press conference is ludicrous and dangerous and the benefits do not outweigh the risks.

If forced to do a press conference, having a complete professional disguise and limiting your response to generic answers would go a long way to protecting your privacy.

The need to relocate and establish a temporary residency prior to claiming your prize can't be stressed enough. Any future residence should be purchased through a land trust or your attorney acting as your trustee.

Ummm, ok...one state. Others?