After reaching a settlement with the Public Interest Legal Foundation ( PILF), New Mexico will reduce its$ 5, 000-plus fee to obtain individual copies of the state’s voter rolls by more than 90 %.
The regulator for election integrity claims the deal is a big win for accountability and the rule, as opposed to putting on observe says that charge exorbitant charges for voter records.  ,
The lawsuit settles a lawsuit brought by PILF against Democratic New Mexico Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver, who claimed the Land of Enchantment had overcharged for voting move data. According to the agreement, Oliver has reduced the cost of the entire voter list to$ 600.  ,
” Defendant represents that she has implemented an office-wide reduction of the SERVIS Data Fees, which have a maximum of$ 600.00 per request”, the settlement, filed last last month in the U. S. District Court of New Mexico, states. ” Defendant shall change all public-facing fee schedules to reflect the new$ 600.00″.
J. Christian Adams, president of PILF, said the settlement is a “win for election transparency” . ,
‘ At a Reasonable Cost ‘ ,
The Alexandria, Virginia-based foundation frequently purchases voter records to determine whether local and state elections officials, among other things, keep their voter rolls up to date and clear in accordance with federal and state election law. In order to compile reports and other communications to inform the public about issues of election integrity, PILF relies on these documents. That’s what guardian companies do.  ,
Requests for State Elections Registration and Voting Integrity System ( SERVICE ) data must be sent via the” Voter Data Request Form” in New Mexico.  ,
According to PILF’s complaint, fee schedule included:  ,
›$ 4 per 1, 000 records with voting history (unsorted ) in electronic format
›$ 3 per 1, 000 records without voting history (unsorted ) in electronic format
›$ 5 per 1, 000 records printed list ( as requested )
The charges included a$ 15 installation fee on all voter data data demands, according to the problem. Those who want voting documents are required to give the information fees each time a request is made.
Said costs may add up quickly. New Mexico counted more than 1.37 million registered voters in November’s vote, according to data from the Secretary of State’s department reported by Resource NM. People would have to pay thousands of dollars for each modern list of registered electors with voter registration background information. And that’s for a preview in time. Voting names, as election integrity auditors are all too conscious, are subject to change.  ,
Election officials are required by the National Voter Registration Act to “protect the integrity of the political process” and to maintain accurate and current voting membership rolls. Accordingly, each state must” do a basic system that makes a sensible effort to remove the names of disqualified voters from the national lists of eligible voters by cause of… the death of the registrant… or a change in the registrant’s residence [. ]”  ,
Says even are content to the NVRA’s public information delivery. The law mandates that all information” concern the execution of programs and activities conducted to ensure the reliability and money of established lists of available voters” be kept for at least two years. The information also must be available for inspection and, where applicable, copy, “at a fair cost” . ,
Preempted and unworkable
New Mexico’s Secretary of State’s department evidently believed$ 5, 000 was a “reasonable value”. According to the problem, PILF offered to cover the office’s handling costs by bringing” backup media resources and equipment to complete the data transfer.”  ,
No stones.  ,
A version of the” Data Fees” document, which stated the price tag may be “approximately$ 5, 000,” was handed to a PILF agent.
” The implementation of a$ 5, 000 per-request price is not’ affordable,’ as the NVRA requires, but is costly and arbitrary”, PILF informed the company in a see notice, dated Nov. 4, 2022. ” New Mexico’s$ 5, 000 per-request cost precludes access to public documents in a way that poses impediments to the success of the NVRA’s goals. The$ 5, 000 per-request fee is therefore preempted and unenforceable” . ,
Toulouse Oliver obviously disagreed. The leftist’s special guidance informed the foundation that a requester must first offer an affidavit that “voter data will only be used for political or election and campaign purposes and may not be made accessible or used for immoral purposes.”
The minister was breaking federal laws, PILF claimed in response. Even though the base argues it is not required to do so under the NVRA, it provided the completed” Vote Data Authorization” form as requested. Toulouse Oliver next charged PILF$ 5, 479.40 for the voting record, according to court records. According to a text that is included in the issue, she insisted that the vote move “is not a document subject to reporting under the NVRA.”  ,
The foundation was given notice that New Mexico was breaking the transparency provisions of that act. But the secretary’s office had not” cured her NVRA violation”. The foundation then filed a lawsuit, claiming unlawful costs and access to the building.  ,
‘ We’re Watching Other States ‘
The secretary of state’s data fee system, according to Lauren Bowman Bis, PILF’s director of communications and engagement, not only violated federal law with excessive record costs, but it also violated the principles of open government and election integrity.  ,
” It’s a roadblock to transparency”, she told The Federalist in an interview.  ,
She noted PILF’s work in Michigan, where it used the state’s voter database to track deceased registrants. The foundation highlighted the threat of election integrity by listing the graves and obituaries of the dead on Michigan’s voter list in a video released in February. More than two years prior, PILF had filed a federal lawsuit against Jocelyn Benson, the far-left Democrat, over accusations that she had broken the NVRA by “failing to make a reasonable effort to remove deceased registrants from the voter rolls.” According to the complaint, the foundation had uncovered more than 26, 000 deceased registrations on the rolls — with more than 17, 000 of registrants dead for at least a decade, nearly 4, 000 dead for two decades or more.  ,
In late October, PILF appealed the case to the U. S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals.  ,
Fortunately, Bis said, Michigan’s voter roll access fees are not nearly as steep as other states ‘ costs.  ,
You must purchase voter rolls multiple times to be certain of your data, according to the PILF spokeswoman. That adds a whole new level of expense to states like New Mexico that have been preventing citizens from holding their elected officials accountable.
Wisconsin, Alabama, Texas, and Virginia charge more than$ 12, 000 to obtain a copy of voter rolls, according to PILF.  ,
The National Voter Registration Act public disclosure provision was breached last year by the foundation, The Federalist reported. A broader lawsuit addresses what PILF believes is the inherent unfairness of a few states, including Wisconsin and Minnesota, because they permit same-day voter registration. Bis claimed that the lawsuit also addresses the prohibitive costs associated with getting Badger State voter information.  ,
” The charge for reports in electronic format is a$ 25 base fee per report, plus$ 5 for the first 1, 000 voter registration data records, or up to 1, 000 voter registration data records, plus$ 5 for each additional 1, 000 voter registration data records, rounded to the nearest thousand. According to state administrative code, the maximum cost for an electronic report is$ 12,500.
Bis expressed optimism that the New Mexico agreement will be heeded by other states.  ,
” We’re watching other states to see what can be done there”, she said. We are here as watchdogs to put these officials on notice if they don’t follow the law and provide voter rolls at reasonable costs as the NVRA requests.
The Federalist’s senior elections correspondent, Matt Kittle, is. An award-winning investigative reporter and 30-year veteran of print, broadcast, and online journalism, Kittle previously served as the executive director of Empower Wisconsin.
