PHOENIX (AP) — When two winning tickets for a record $588million Powerball jackpot were
claimed from the Nov. 28 drawing, theworld focused on the winners.A Missouri couple appeared at apress
conference and held up the traditional giant-sized check. TheArizona winner, however, skipped the press
conference where lotteryofficials announced last month that someone had claimed the second halfof the
prize.The differing approach to releasing information onthe winners reflects a broader debate that is
playing out in stateLegislatures and lottery offices nationwide: Should the winners’ namesbe
secret?Lawmakers in Michigan and New Jersey think so,proposing bills to allow anonymity because winners
are prone to fallingvictim to scams, shady businesses, greedy distant family members andviolent
criminals looking to shake them down.Lotteries object,arguing that publicizing the winners’ names drives
sales and that havingtheir names released ensures that people know there isn’t somethingfishy afoot,
like a game rigged so a lottery insider wins.Whenplayers see that an actual person won, "it has a
much greater impactthan when they might read that the lottery paid a big prize to ananonymous
player," said Andi Brancato, director of public relations forthe Michigan state lottery.Most states
require the names oflottery winners be disclosed, albeit in different ways. Some statesrequire the
winner to appear at a press conference, like Missouriwinners Mark and Cindy Hill did on Nov. 30.Arizona
and otherstates allow winners not to appear in public, but their names can beobtained through public
records laws. The Arizona winner, Matthew Good,was not identified at the news conference a week after
the Hills’ cameforward, and has not given interviews or appeared in public.Whennews media learned of his
name through records requests, TV crews andreporters flocked to Good’s neighborhood to get reaction from
the winnerof a lottery that captivated the nation.Jeff Hatch-Miller,executive director of the Arizona
Lottery, said he understands winners’desire for privacy, but he argues they are essentially entering
into alarge contract with the government that is public. Others argue thatappearing at a news conference
helps defuse media interest because thewinner is available to answer questions that satisfy the
media’sinterest in telling their stories.In Michigan, Republican stateSen. Tory Rocca pushed a lottery
bill that allows winners to remainanonymous. It didn’t pass, but in arguing for it, he cited cases
wherelottery winners were shot and killed because of their newfound wealth.AFlorida woman was convicted
last month of first-degree murder after shebefriended a man who won a $30 million jackpot in 2006.
Prosecutorssaid she took control of his assets, killed him, buried him in her yardand poured a concrete
slab above the grave.An effort in NewJersey by Democratic Sen. Jim Whelan took a middle ground between
publicrelease and privacy, calling for a one-year delay in releasing winners’names. It also didn’t make
it out of the Legislature last year, but hesaid he’ll keep pressing to get it passed.Whelan said a
one-yeardelay would give winners a chance to adjust while still keeping thepublic disclosure lotteries
say they need. However, Whelan said hedoesn’t really buy the agencies’ arguments for public
disclosure."I’mnot sure how many people are spurred to buy a lottery ticket becausethey see a
picture of someone in the paper holding up a big check – and Idon’t think people don’t buy a ticket
because they think the wholething’s fixed," Whelan said.Of 44 states participating inPowerball and
33 in Mega-Millions, only Delaware, Kansas, Maryland,North Dakota and Ohio allow blanket anonymity, said
Chuck Strutt,executive director of the Multi-State Lottery Association, whichoversees the
games."Obviously, it is a law that is designed toensure an open and transparent process, so that
the public can beensured that insiders are not winners," Strutt said. "But in today’sworld,
most of us can understand the wish to remain anonymous."Themost famous modern lottery fraud case
happened in 1980 whenPennsylvania Lottery district manager Edward Plevel and TV announcerNick Perry were
convicted of fixing the result of the Daily Numberdrawing.Authorities found that some of the ping pong
balls usedin the game were injected with paint to make them too heavy to float upthe winning slots. The
result paid $3.8 million, a record at the time,and eight people involved in the fix won a total of about
$1.2 million.FormerMissouri child services worker Sandra Hayes shared a $224 millionPowerball jackpot
with a dozen co-workers in 2006 and said sheunderstands the push for anonymity.Hayes said she received
manyrequests for money or to make investments, both at work (she kept herjob another month) and at home,
where she’d find people waiting on herporch. Her lump sum payout after taxes was more than $6
million.Even if people are allowed to remain anonymous, it’s often inevitable that their identities will
become known.SteveThornton, a lawyer in Bowling Green, Ky., has helped two big lotterywinners shield
their names through corporations despite rules in hisstate that require disclosure of winners. Even
though they were kept outof the public eye, one winner couldn’t stay hidden."It was notmany months
later that lots of people knew who won, even though it wasnot released, because of their gifts and their
spending." Thornton said.Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.