TRENTON, N.J. (Legal Newsline) - The Public Interest Legal Foundation will be denied access to New Jersey voter registration records it sought in a lawsuit but can continue to pursue other potential documents, a federal judge has ruled.
U.S. District Judge Freda Wolfson on Nov. 9 granted New Jersey Secretary of State Tahesha Way's motion to dismiss PILF's efforts to obtain the voter module for the Statewide Voter Registration System.
PILF said Way violated the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 when she denied its request for information regarding cancelling duplicate voter registration records. It said the voter module fell under "all records concerning the implementation" of voter list maintenance programs and activities, according to the NVRA.
The voter module shows how to add, delete or modify information in the state's database of registered voters.
"Although Plaintiff is correct that the NVRA’s disclosure provision is broad and does not contain an explicit exemption from disclosure for sensitive information subject to potential abuse, I also find that the term 'all records' in the disclosure provision 'does not encompass any relevant record from any source whatsoever, but must be read in [context] with the various statutes enacted by Congress,'" Wolfson wrote, citing another PILF case against the North Carolina State Board of Elections.
"Tellingly, Plaintiff does not cite a single decision where technical manuals, technical instructions, or any other comparable documents were subject to the NVRA's disclosure provision. Rather, the cases cited in Plaintiff's opposition brief, and those uncovered in the Court's independent survey of NVRA case law, demonstrate that the disclosure provision has been applied to voter registration lists, applications for voter registration, and other records related to the accuracy of official lists of eligible voters."
Wolfson did order Way to search state records for informal instructions like emails or hand-written notes to or from county officials related to duplicate voter registration records within 45 days.
If those records exist, Way will determine if she has a legal basis to withhold disclosure of them.