HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) Marketing companies and other private entities may no longer be able to purchase Connecticut's voter list.

Secretary of the State Denise Merrill has proposed limiting access to the database to political parties, candidates, journalists, researchers and governmental agencies. She also wants to prevent full birth dates of voters from being released.

The Democrat, who is up for re-election this year, says she's motivated by the thousands of voters who contacted her office with privacy concerns after a now-disbanded presidential commission sought reams of data.

Republican secretary of the state candidate Susan Chapman, of New Fairfield, likes protecting the file, but questions why Merrill didn't do this earlier.

The executive director of the election advocacy group Common Cause calls Merrill's proposal troubling, noting how much of the information is already available on the internet.