Nonprofit halts planned mailing of voting history

A planned mass mailing that would have disclosed many Virginians' personal voting history was halted Wednesday amid indications that the information may have been acquired illegally.

An inquiry into the matter is under way at the State Board of Elections, where officials were surprised to learn that a nonprofit group called the Know Campaign was planning to disseminate the voting data to 350,000 randomly chosen households.

The mail piece, personalized for each recipient, would have recapped a resident 's participation in recent elections and that of his or her neighbors. The piece described the data as public information obtained from the Board of Elections.

Nancy Rodrigues, the board secretary, said she was "shocked" to read a Virginian-Pilot report about the effort, which the group characterized as an attempt to boost voter turnout in Tuesday's gubernatorial election.

"We did not release that information to the Know Campaign," Rodrigues said. "Nonprofits are not given that access."

Under state law, lists of people who voted in elections can be released only to candidates, elected officials and political party chairmen. Those who get such access must sign a statement agreeing not to share the data with anyone else. Violation of the law is a felony.

The lists identify only who voted in a given election, not how they voted.

Debra Girvin, the Know Campaign's executive director, said she had been advised by the group's attorneys that the mailing was legal. But after questions were raised about it, she halted it until the matter could be clarified.

http://hamptonroads.com/2009/10/nonprofit-halts-planned-mailing-voting-history

another underhanded dirty trick...part of me wishes it had gone through just to see how over-the-top it would have been....