![]() ![]() It is divided into disparate PDF files, but it is searchable: Opening the Republican Party list from the 73rd Assembly District and searching for Trump revealed five names: Mr. The information online is organized by State Assembly district, county and political party affiliation. “I don’t share the criticism that it makes a difference where you make it available.” “You as a citizen or a group could come to our office, request an entire voter list, and get much more information than this,” Mr. ![]() The information posted online does not include voters’ gender, date of birth, phone number or email address, though that information is available for a fee if requested. “We will address this matter with the commissioners to determine if it’s something that we will continue moving forward.” “It’s done as a one-off to meet this particular deadline,” he said. Uploading the files digitally was intended to be a stopgap measure while the books were printed, in case candidates were trying to canvass in the meantime, Mr. That may be a low bar for access, but it is an important one nonetheless, said Jessica Baldwin-Philippi, an assistant professor at Fordham University who studies digital media and political campaigns. Most jurisdictions will release voter data only after a request from someone who must give their name and contact information, or will give the data only to certain groups, such as political parties. Washington, D.C., published its voter rolls online in 2016, but after backlash, the law was revised and the elections board there discontinued the practice. North Carolina and Ohio make their data freely available for download on public sites, according to Michael McDonald, an associate professor at the University of Florida who runs The Election Project, which tracks election law across the country. Cuomo said at the time that the state would not.) In 2017, a commission created by President Trump to investigate his unsubstantiated claims of widespread voter fraud requested voter rolls from each state. Apps now enable voters to see which of their friends and acquaintances voted in the last election and to prod them to do so again - or shame them if they do not. Several local or state parties, including in New York, have angered voters by sending out fliers warning them that their voting history is public record. The city’s decision, which was reported by WNYC, comes amid the growing availability of data, election-related or otherwise, and growing pushes to contain it. “It would be incredibly easy for anyone and everyone to simply take those documents and use them for whatever purposes they want,” he said. Political parties have long used the information to target their fliers, phone calls and door-knocking campaigns.īut Albert Fox Cahn, the executive director of the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project, a privacy advocacy group, said there was a “big difference” between information that is technically public as a matter of law, and functionally and immediately available to anybody who wants it. In New York, anyone can request comprehensive voter data from the state or local Board of Elections, which usually provides the information on a compact disc. ![]() She added, “When it comes to the current administration, we need to be extra vigilant to ensure New Yorkers’ information isn’t being used for politically motivated ill will.” “The New York City Board of Elections’ decision was theirs to make, but we believe sensitive voter information should always be protected,” Caitlin Girouard, a spokeswoman for Mr. Cuomo, whose office emphasized the need for digital privacy. But the move raised alarms among privacy advocates and some election experts, who said the ease of access could play into the hands of mail scammers, internet trolls and domestic violence perpetrators. The city’s Board of Elections recently posted its voter enrollment lists to its website, a massive upload of thousands of pages, covered in tiny all-caps letters, that offer a district-by-district breakdown of voters sorted by party and street name - one line for each of the 4.6 million active registered voters.Ĭity officials said that the information was already public record, and that a new forum did not change its availability. Are you registered to vote in New York City? If so, then anyone can find out your party affiliation, full name and home address down to the apartment number - all with a few mouse clicks. ![]()
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