(The Center Square) — A federal appeals court is considering the fate of Maine’s 2021 voter privacy law in a legal challenge that could impact the use of voter rolls nationwide.
The U.S. First Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston recently heard arguments in a lawsuit challenging Maine’s privacy law, which prevents voter registration data from being posted online.
Lawyers for the Virginia-based Public Interest Legal Foundation, which filed the lawsuit, argue that federal law allows data to be available for public inspection.
“Congress believed that accurate voter rolls were so vital to the proper functioning of a democracy that it made all records subject to public disclosure when it comes to voter list maintenance and registration,” the group’s attorney, Noel H. Johnson, told the court in oral arguments last Thursday. “Congress mandated complete transparency when it comes to list maintenance records.”
He argued that Maine’s use and speech restrictions on the voter roll are “obstacles to achieving Congress’ intent for transparency and accountability.”
“Congress designed the NVRA to make voter registration and list maintenance transparent, and Maine is thwarting Congress’s design,” Johnson told the court. “They are preventing criticism and speech.”
Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, named the defendant in the lawsuit, argues that “Mainers should be able to register to vote without fear that someone will post their sensitive personal information online.”
“Voter privacy is foundational to the freedom to vote in accordance with your beliefs, free of interference,” the Democrat said in a statement. “Maine has long enjoyed the distinction of leading the nation in voter turnout, and we are proud of our longstanding commitment to voter freedom and privacy. Unfortunately, this lawsuit could change all that.”
The group says it filed a lawsuit against Bellows to obtain a copy of the state’s voter roll “and to challenge the state’s use restrictions that prohibit using Maine’s voter roll as a resource to study other state’s voter rolls and the discussion of specific errors found.”
In March, U.S. District Court Judge George Z. Singal sided with the foundation in a ruling that the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 prohibited the state’s use restrictions on the voter roll. Bellows appealed the ruling.
The foundation’s president, J. Christian Adams, said the lawsuit deals with “significant issues of press freedom, the First Amendment, and transparent elections” and “fighting for transparency in our elections.”
“Maine has passed a law allowing the government to silence individuals from criticizing election officials,” he said. “This case will have far-reaching consequences for clean elections and the ability of voters to hold their election officials accountable.”
