On July 12, the Fourth Circuit issued an opinion in Fusaro v Cogan, 18-2167. The case had been filed by a Virginia resident who wanted to purchase a list of registered voters in a portion of Maryland. However, Maryland law says the list can only be given to residents of Maryland. The U.S. District Court had upheld the law, but the Fourth Circuit said the U.S. District Court should look at the issue again. Here is the 42-page opinion. The U.S. District Court had said there is no First Amendment involvement in this issue, but the Fourth Circuit disagreed. It wants the state to explain the reason for the restriction, and then the U.S. District Court will balance that against the harm being done to the plaintiff.

The decision will help the Alabama Libertarian Party to win its pending case against Alabama, over access to the voter registration list. The attorney for the Alabama Libertarian Party has already informed the U.S. District Court Judge in Alabama about the Fourth Circuit opinion.

The Fourth Circuit also added the detail that the Maryland list of registered voters only costs $128. Alabama wants tens of thousands of dollars for the Alabama list, although the Alabama major parties obtain it for free.