AK: Democrats Defend Public's Right to See Election Data

[Wilms]

Alaska: Democrats Defend Public's Right to See Election Data

By Kay Brown, Alaska Dmocratic Party

July 27, 2006

State's Security Argument Is Without Merit

Anchorage - ­The State of Alaska¹s argument that release of election records would jeopardize security and adversely impact upcoming elections is without merit, the Alaska Democratic Party said in court papers filed this week.

Whether the database containing the results of Alaska's 2004 elections should be released to the public under Alaska's public records law is the subject of a lawsuit filed by the Alaska Democratic Party in State Superior Court after the Division of Elections refused to release the database.

snip

The Alaska Democratic Party has been trying since last year to get the public records about the 2004 general election results in order to find out why there are numerous errors and discrepancies in the state¹s reported results. The Division of Elections' latest excuses for refusing to release the election information are that security risks would jeopardize the Division of Elections' ability to carry out the upcoming Primary and General Elections, and that the Party's request came too late.

In papers filed last week in the court suit, the State said release of the electronic database that contains the 2004 votes "will jeopardize the security of the division of elections' computer system, and the division's administration of the upcoming Primary and General Elections." The information the Democrats seek "is not a public record," the State said, because it is covered under a security exemption to the public records act.

snip

http://www.votetrustusa.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1577&Itemid=113

[Botany]

1. 2004 data will corrupt 2006 elections?

Please they are hiding something big time .... I might be wrong but I liked when
AK officials said that giving the data out would hurt the war on terror or something like
that.

[mopinko]

2. if this does not make joe sixpack say wtf

we have gone over the edge. period.

[Bill Bored]

3. Uh, aren't there ANY Democrats in the AK Division of Elections? nt

[Blue_In_AK]

5. I think Loren Leman

our lieutenant governor (R-Satan, as RogueValley likes to say), the man in charge of elections here, is the one responsible for all this bullshit. It's pretty bad when even Diebold says to cut loose with the info and they still won't do it.

[kster]

4. Godamn it, someone should Go ON TV with this, Oh, never mind..nt