In mid-December 2022, the Alabama Secretary of State gave a free list of the registered voters to the Libertarian Party, because it had qualified for statewide ballot access in the 2022 election. Alabama charges more for the list of registered voters than any other state ($37,000) but gives a free list to qualified parties.
Although the Libertarian Party did not poll 20% for any statewide race last year, it did poll over 20% for countywide partisan offices in Madison, Macon, and Jackson Counties, so it is on the ballot for 2024 for all county partisan offices in those three counties.
The party is seeking sponsors for a bill to lower the 20% vote test to something lower.
That’s very good news; both finally getting the statewide list for free and being on the ballot in three counties. It amazes me that the state wants to charge $37k for a list. With current technology I can’t see there is close to $37K of effort to compile and send the list. Kansas charges $200 for the statewide list.
I don’t know what all information the voter file contains, but I hope the Alabama LP uses the list to good use.
That’s a ballot access dividend!
It is a fee of one cent per voter on the list. There are 3.7 million viewers in the state, so the cost is 3.7 million cents, or 37 thousand dollars.
Sounds like a very reasonable fee.
unless I’m misunderstanding what’s including in this “registered voter list”… it’s free in Ohio for anyone, you just have to know where to look.
it’s just a CSV file (a spreadsheet) and tells you when they voted, which primary they voted in, address, date of birth, name, etc.
Yes, that is crazy that some states violate voter’s privacy like that. This is why I would never register to vote if I lived in USA in one of those states. Try getting a list of registered voters like that for free in a more sane nation like Russia or Belarus. Alabama at least charges a non-trivial fee to all the real and potential identity thieves, murderers, scammers, burglars, rapists, kidnappers, stalkers, burglars, extortionists, home invaders, con artists, spammers, junk mailers, phone solicitors, etc etc etc. States like Ohio are just asking for trouble with how they give out their voter list willy nilly. But of course they don’t care because they will not be the ones dealing with the consequences of their irresponsible use of private information that they require for civic participation.