A federal judge says New Mexico election regulators and prosecutors discriminated against a Republican-backed group in refusing access to voter registration rolls.

The Friday ruling bars the state from refusing to turn over voter data to Voter Reference Foundation, bolstering the group’s efforts to expand a free database of registered voters so that groups and individuals can take it upon themselves to try to find potential irregularities or fraud.

State prosecutors plan to appeal the ruling, said Lauren Rodriguez, a spokesperson for the New Mexico Department of Justice.

The VoteRef.com website recently restored New Mexico listings to its searchable database of registered voters — including street addresses, party affiliations and whether voters participated in recent elections.

  • dogslayeggs@lemmy.world
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    3 months ago

    This should not be public record. I hate that when I register in CA my info gets sent to every spamming piece of shit political group.

  • als@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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    3 months ago

    In the UK when you sign up to vote you have the option to be on the “open register” which is a list of voters that companies then buy to find people to spam with letters etc. Safe to say I’ve opted out

  • bloodfart
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    3 months ago

    One of the best reasons to not vote anyone ever gave me is that if you stop before you move your home address isn’t a matter of public record anymore.

    • Mcdolan@lemmy.world
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      3 months ago

      If you own any land that’s all public records (in my area at least). Kinda annoying that you can just go to a towns website and see all of the tax bills with addresses and a map of exactly where that land is.

      Damn near everything you do involving the government becomes public records of some sort.

      A pretty poor excuse not to vote though. Kinda sov-city like saying don’t get a drivers license at 16 so that you never need to get a drivers.

          • bloodfart
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            3 months ago

            I don’t, but there’s lots of reasons people do it, there might be additional costs associated with it but everything I’ve heard of it that the person in charge of the trust just pays the property tax like if they were a normal person instead of the agent of a vehicle.

            One benefit to a trust it that transfers take place entirely within the framework of the trust, so you can transfer use rights and “ownership” within the trust without incurring the transfer fees and taxes associated with splitting up a plot in the “meatspace” of titles and deeds.