Monday, November 02, 2009
Editorial: A quasi-public record of voting?
A record is public or not. Voting records should either be open for anyone to see, or no one.
From the RoundTable blog
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Living in the land of the free, etc., perhaps you think you can exercise your right to vote however you want -- including by not voting at all -- and it's nobody's business but your own.
If so, you're only half right.
No one is supposed to be able to know how you vote. Whether you vote, though -- that's a different matter.
This became evident last week when a secretive group decided to send out a mass mailing to Virginians giving their voting history and disclosing those of their neighbors -- evidently an attempt to shame people into going to the polls Tuesday.
The mysterious Know Campaign -- source of funding unknown -- stopped the mailing when the state board of elections pointed out the nonprofit wasn't supposed to have that information.
In Virginia, it's off-limits to you, me, and any Tom, Dick or Harriet curious about who takes their right to vote as a civic duty, and who is content to punt.
By law, though, the state board of elections is to "furnish to candidates, elected officials, or political party chairmen and to no one else, on request and at a reasonable price, lists for their districts of persons who voted at any primary, special, or general election held in the four preceding years."
In other words, whether you vote or not is a private matter, except when it comes to political marketing.
"Such lists," the code specifies, "shall be used only for campaign and political purposes and for reporting to constituents."
So, your election participation is a private matter, except when it's not: Lawmakers have assured access for political parties and candidates, including themselves, which surely makes campaigning easier. That doesn't mean it is right.
Matters of public record should, indeed, be public record. Where a need for privacy is deemed sufficient to close records, they should be closed to all, except those with a legitimate need for access. Electioneering is an insufficient excuse.
