ALBUQUERQUE, NM (Legal Newsline) - In a stunning victory for voters, a federal judge is allowing the online publication of New Mexico voter rolls over the objection of state officials.
The Voter Reference Foundation (VRF), the voter integrity group that challenged state officials in federal court in late March, said that it will place the rolls on its site, voteref.com, on Tuesday, July 26.
“We won't be intimidated by politicians who, for some reason, don't want to give the people of their state easy access to election records they pay for," Doug Truax, founder and President of Restoration of America, which created and funds VRF, said in a statement. "We’re committed to publishing the voter rolls in all 50 states, so the public can scrutinize the most important function of their government -- running fair and accurate elections."
In the ruling, Albuquerque-based U.S. District Court Judge James Browning agreed with VRF’s First Amendment arguments and enjoined Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver and Attorney General Hector, both Democrats, from prosecuting VRF for publishing data that it already possessed. Judge Browning also said that Oliver was wrong to presume, and state publicly, that VRF was prohibited from publishing voter data.
"In conclusion, New Mexico's Election Code does not prohibit Voter Reference's publication of voter data online," the judge wrote in his opinion.
VRF first put the state’s voter roll information on its website – where it has published the rolls of 29 states and Washington, D.C. – last December. The group removed the information while the legal action was pending.
The published records do not indicate which candidate a voter voted for, or how they voted on state initiatives.
Truax further said to expect additional lawsuits in other states where election transparency is blocked. Several states have statutes banning publication of taxpayer-funded voter data and others have enacted procedural barriers to publication.
"We’re beginning to lift the veil on an opaque system that is riddled with inaccuracies," he said. "We wouldn't accept a lack of transparency and accuracy in our banking or accounting records -- why accept it when it comes to elections? We will do what it takes going forward to bring election transparency to America."
State voter registration lists are notoriously riddled with duplicate registrations, active registration of deceased voters, registration of foreign nationals, and other flaws.
A separate voter integrity, the Public Interest Legal Foundation (PILF), has also relied had to rely on the courts to gain access to the rolls.
"Voter rolls are public documents under the National Voter Registration Act,” Lauren Bowman, spokeswoman for PILF, told the New Mexico Sun for an earlier story.
“The Public Interest Legal Foundation has won cases in Illinois, Maine, and Maryland (citing the act). The public has a right to monitor the condition of voter rolls and hold election officials accountable. Clean and accurate voter rolls are essential to free and fair elections."