This is a such a big deal for lottery players although most would not have realised it until too late.
We’ve discussed if lottery winners names should be published before and it’s hard to come up with any convincing reason why they should.
Particularly when countries such as the UK have always allowed big winners to stay anonymous if they so choose. And it’s certainly not hurt the reputation of one of the most popular lottery games in the world.
But in certain US States it’s still law that your identity will be released for everyone to see if you hit the jackpot.
Now there are ways to attempt to avoid your name becoming public such as forming a trust, but this is not always possible or even successful.
And if anyone needs any further convincing as to how important this is, just ask a big winner such as Adrian Bayford. It started with 400 begging letters, and ended up with him having to close up the music shop he was looking forward to running for years to come.
Well Arizona has become the latest State to take firm steps to allow some anonymity for winners that would prefer it. And this has just received a landslide vote in favour by the house of representatives with 51 votes to 8. We previously reported that New Jersey had approved a privacy bill, so it’s great to see another State doing the right thing for players.
The Senate will now vote on the bill, but with such strong support and little logical reason to reject the bill, it seems likely to be approved.
This won’t of course affect players who do want the limelight. You will simply be able to choose privacy instead, if you want it.
And I’d suggest you say yes!
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