FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Monday, October 27, 2008

CONTACT: Whitney Potter (505) 507-9898; [email protected]

ALBUQUERQUE—The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of New Mexico today sued key members of the Republican Party for violating the privacy rights of New Mexico voters and illegally interfering with their right to vote.  Filed in state district court, the class action suit alleges that NM Representative Justine Fox-Young and as yet unnamed members of the GOP illegally used private social security numbers to do background checks of legal voters and illegally disseminated confidential voter information to the press.  The lawsuit also names private investigator Al Romero, hired by the GOP, for using voter registration information locate voters and question them about the legitimacy of their registrations.

“Today we are declaring ‘enough is enough,’” said ACLU Executive Director Peter Simonson.  “We are not going to stand by and watch the Republican Party break laws to interfere with New Mexicans’ private and constitutional right to participate in the upcoming election.  Something had to be done immediately to confront these abuses, so we have taken action.”

In an October 16 press conference, Representative Fox-Young announced that members of the Republican Party used social security numbers from 92 voter registration forms, which they obtained from an as yet undetermined source, to run credit checks and driver’s license checks.  They sent copies of the forms to the press, including 7 unredacted dates of birth.
According to New Mexico state law, “It is unlawful for the qualified elector’s date of birth or any portion of the qualified elector’s social security number required on the certificate of registration to be copied, conveyed, or used by anyone other than the person registering to vote, either before or after it is filed with the county clerk.”  A person who violates this law is guilty of a fourth degree felony.

On October 22, the ACLU sent a letter to the NM Attorney General’s office calling for a criminal investigation into the matter.  The office has assigned an investigator but no further information is available.

###

The mission of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of New Mexico is to maintain and advance the cause of civil liberties within the state of New Mexico, with particular emphasis on the freedom of religion, speech, press, association, and assemblage, and the right to vote, due process of law and equal protection of law, and to take any legitimate action in the furtherance and defense of such purposes. These objectives shall be sought wholly without political partisanship.

Related Documents:

GOP Complaint

FOR IMMIDIATE RELEASE October 24, 2008

CONTACT:  Whitney Potter, Communications Director (505) 266-5915 ext. 1003;[email protected] or James Flores, Spokesperson for Secretary of State Mary Herrera (505) 476-0352; [email protected]

The New Mexico Women’s Justice Project, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of New Mexico, and Secretary of State Mary Herrera announced an agreement to ensure convicted felons who have completed all probation or parole are able to vote in the upcoming election.
Under a 2001 state law, individuals who have completed their sentence are to be reinstated into the voter rolls by the State. This year, the State had a backlog of reinstatements for individuals whose voter rights had been restored. To remedy the problem of the backlog and make sure that people formerly convicted are given every opportunity to vote, the civil rights groups and Secretary Herrera agreed that the Secretary of State will:

• Issue a directive permitting anyone to vote on a provisional ballot who states that they should be permitted to vote because they completed the terms of their sentence under N.M. Stat. Ann. § 31-13-1 (2008), but who appears as an ineligible voter because of a felony conviction on the rolls.

• Waive any time constraints for qualifying the provisional ballot of these individuals, until such times as the Secretary of State can review them and cross-reference them with the information from the New Mexico Department of Corrections, New Mexico Administration of Courts, and the Federal Department of Corrections.

• Direct all County Clerks to issue a letter to anyone who has received a letter of rejection, clarifying that the individual may be permitted to vote on a provisional ballot.

• Enter all data of information for all persons with a prior felony conviction, now eligible to vote, into the computer system prior to this year’s election.

• Provide record of information of all individuals who have been sent a rejection letter or who have not been able to vote based upon a prior felony conviction.

Christina Vigil, Executive Director of the New Mexico Women’s Justice Project, said, “We were very concerned about the disenfranchisement of individuals with felony convictions who completed their sentence and were eligible to vote.  We are relieved that the Secretary of State’s Office has agreed to solutions, which ensure that individuals with past felony convictions will now be allowed to exercise their fundamental right to vote on Election Day and participate in the political process.”

“This is an important accomplishment that clears the way for thousands of restored voters to participate in one of the most momentous elections in recent history,” said ACLU of New Mexico Executive Director Peter Simonson.  “We are thrilled that the Secretary of State’s Office shares our commitment to voters’ rights and is willing to implement these critical changes, even so close to the time of the election.”

###

The New Mexico Women’s Justice Project, Inc. (NMWJP), located in Albuquerque, is a non-profit organization that seeks to eliminate a broad range of systemic barriers to social, economic and political justice faced by women, girls and their families in NM. The NMWJP focuses on women and girls whose lives are affected by the criminal justice, delinquency and child welfare systems. The Project is dedicated to improving the lives of women and children who have been affected by poverty, addiction, mental illness, and the trauma of physical, emotional, and sexual abuse by providing research, policy development, education, and direct action for change that enhances lives while maintaining families and protecting our communities.

The mission of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of New Mexico is to maintain and advance the cause of civil liberties within the state of New Mexico, with particular emphasis on the freedom of religion, speech, press, association, and assemblage, and the right to vote, due process of law and equal protection of law, and to take any legitimate action in the furtherance and defense of such purposes. These objectives shall be sought wholly without political partisanship.

FOR IMMIDIATE RELEASE October 22, 2008
CONTACT: (505) 266-5915 ext. 1003; [email protected]
ALBUQUERQUE—In a letter to the New Mexico Attorney General today, the ACLU called for a criminal investigation into concerns that the Bernalillo County Clerk’s Office may have released confidential voter registration information to the Republican Party, and that the Party may have publicly distributed that information in violation of state laws protecting voter privacy.  A press packet distributed by the GOP last week contained photocopies of 19 voter registration forms, and acknowledged that the Party obtained 92 voter registration forms in all.  Several of the forms displayed written notes in a space reserved for “office use only,” suggesting that they had been reviewed by County officials before arriving in the Party’s hands.
New Mexico state law prohibits the County Clerk from releasing voter registration to anyone except registrants and it assesses a fourth degree felony upon any, “person who unlawfully copies, conveys, or uses information from a certificate of registration.”
“The evidence suggests to us a stunning disregard for the privacy of New Mexico voters and the laws of our state that ensure orderly elections,” ACLU Executive Director Peter Simonson said.  “Voters should not have to fear that their identifying information is going to make its way into the hands of people who want to influence their vote or intimidate them into not voting at all.”
Although the GOP blacked out social security numbers on the registration forms released to the press, they left names, addresses, phone numbers, and, in some instances, dates of birth unredacted.  Simonson urged immediate intervention by state authorities.
“We still do not know how the GOP obtained these registration forms, whether they might obtain more, and if someone in the County Clerk’s office is sharing the information with other parties,” Simonson said.  “The threat to voters’ privacy is imminent.”

# # #

The mission of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of New Mexico is to maintain and advance the cause of civil liberties within the state of New Mexico, with particular emphasis on the freedom of religion, speech, press, association, and assemblage, and the right to vote, due process of law and equal protection of law, and to take any legitimate action in the furtherance and defense of such purposes. These objectives shall be sought wholly without political partisanship.
Related Documents:

ACLU's Letter to the New Mexico Attorney General's Office (10-21-08)