Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
The Secretary of State’s office has lost a battle to keep New Mexico voter information from being published online by a national conservative organization after a judge on Friday ruled the information is public under federal law.
The 329-page ruling by U.S. District Judge James Browning of Albuquerque found that Voter Reference Foundation LLC was entitled to information from New Mexico voter registration rolls and that the Secretary of State’s office, or SOS, violated a federal election transparency law in denying the foundation the records.
A spokesman for the Secretary of State’s office on Monday said the agency will appeal the ruling to the 10th Circuit Court and will ask for a stay pending the appeal.
The SOS information, such as a voter’s name, address and year of birth, can be released under certain circumstances by the Secretary of State’s office. But state election officials object to the foundation, which aims to collect and publish voter information from all 50 states, widely disseminating the data on its public website.
The Voter Reference Foundation website states its goal “is to encourage greater voter participation in all 50 states.” But the SOS contends release of voter rolls for publication could have a chilling effect on New Mexicans registering to vote.
The foundation’s executive director is Gina Swoboda, a former Trump campaign official who was recently named chairwoman of the Arizona Republican Party.
“The Voter Reference Foundation is dedicated to ensuring transparent, accurate and fair elections in the United States of America. The purpose of this website is to provide educational information about how our elections process works and how elections data is compiled and maintained nationwide,” the website states.
Browning found that the National Voter Registration Act preempts state restrictions. He stated that he was concurring with other federal courts that have considered the issue.
Voters Reference Foundation sued election officials in Pennsylvania over similar records requests, and the state of Maine failed in its recent effort to protect its state voter records from being posted online.
The New Mexico legal case dates back to 2022.
Voters Reference Foundation had initially posted New Mexico voting records from April 2021 after obtaining them through an out-of-state company. However, it removed them from its website at the request of New Mexico election regulators who contended that the foundation’s website violated state restrictions on the purchase and dissemination of voter registration records.
Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver, a Democrat, contended that state law permits voter rolls to be used for campaign or government activity only.
The matter was referred for possible criminal prosecution by the state Attorney General’s office, which hasn’t happened. And the foundation sued the state in federal court, alleging unconstitutional retaliation, First Amendment violations and other claims.
Carter Harrison, an Albuquerque attorney who represented the foundation, couldn’t be immediately reached for comment on Monday.
Alex Curtas, a spokesman for the Secretary of State’s office, told the Journal in an email:
“We are pleased the court found that state law restricting the use of voter information data does not violate the 1st Amendment, that the law is not unconstitutionally overbroad or vague, and that the law was not applied to the Voter Reference Foundation in a retaliatory manner.”
He stated that his office “will adjust procedures for handling voter data requests in line with the court’s ruling” but plans to appeal the decision that the National Voter Registration Act preempts state disclosure laws, “as we disagree with the court’s decision on that matter.”
There’s also a pending claim before Browning alleging that New Mexico election officials’ decisions in the case constituted an “unconstitutional viewpoint discrimination.”
Meanwhile, Curtas added, “The Secretary of State will continue to do everything in her power to advocate for the protection of voters’ personal information and ultimately encourage voter participation.”
Curtas said on Monday that anyone with questions about their voter information can contact the Bureau of Elections at 505-827-3600 or email [email protected].
The SOS website states that the VoterReg.com website is a searchable database that includes the voter’s full name, residential address, voting precinct number, date of voter registration, political party affiliation, voting history and year of birth.
Publicly available voter information in New Mexico does not include Social Security numbers, identifying information about where a voter registered, a voter’s day and month of birth, or a voter’s telephone number. It does also not include any information on voters participating in the Secretary of State’s Safe At Home Program for survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault or stalking.
“The voter data currently being used by the Voter Reference Foundation is from New Mexico’s voter rolls as they were in April 2021. So, even if you cancel your voter registration now, that snapshot of your information from April 2021 would remain on their website,” the SOS website states.
