Project Vote Lawsuit Against High Cost of Buying List of Arizona Registered Voters is Settled

At the beginning of 2017, the cost of buying the list of registered voters in Arizona was far higher than the costs in any other state.  The state charged 5 cents for paper records per name, and one cent per name for electronic records.  This amounted to over $150,000 for a paper record, and over $30,000 for an electronic record, for the entire statewide list.  The state gave the list free to qualified parties.

Project Vote had been trying to reduce these costs since 2012.  In 2016 it filed a federal lawsuit, arguing that Arizona was breaking the federal NVRA, which says states must furnish the list “at a reasonable cost”.  The lawsuit was Project Vote v Reagan, 2:16cv-1253.

Earlier this year, the legislature passed HB 2412, which was signed March 31, 2017.  It lowers the cost for the entire list to $328 plus $0.0000625 per name.  That currently works out to approximately $500.  The cost per name is slightly higher for partial lists.

The state settled the lawsuit at the end of June.  Each side will pay its own attorneys’ fees.  Ironically, Project Vote this year has ceased to exist as an active organization, due to the difficulty of raising funds for its activities.  Thanks to Electionline for this news.

Virginia Local Initiative Proponent Sues to Overturn Law that Bars Initiative Groups from Getting List of Registered Voters

On June 30, Paul Goldman, a Virginia proponent of a local initiative in Richmond, sued the State Board of Elections to overturn the law that won’t let his committee have a copy of the registered voter list.  Virginia law lets candidates buy the list, but not proponents of a ballot measure.

Goldman’s initiative needs 10,398 valid signatures in the city of Richmond in a brief time period.  The case is Goldman v Alcorn, state court in Richmond (circuit court), case 17-2997-5.  Thanks to Rosanna Bencoach for this news.

UPDATE:  see this story.

Another Prominent Republican Says he will Run for Governor of California

On July 4, David Hadley, who was a member of the California Assembly 2014-2016, said he will run for Governor of California in 2018. That makes three prominent Republicans who are seeking the office. Having three well-known Republicans increases the chances that no Republican will place first or second in June 2018. See this story, which mentions that Hadley voted for Gary Johnson for president in November 2016.

Mindy Finn, Running Mate of Evan McMullin, Interviewed

Here is an interview with Mindy Finn, vice-presidential nominee for Evan McMullin, about her experience in 2016 and what she plans to do next. She is still a registered Republican. Her name did not actually appear on the ballot in any state in November 2016. All eleven states that carried McMullin on the ballot also printed the stand-in’s name. The stand-in vice-presidential nominee was Nathan Daniel Johnson.