On Friday, April 2, a New Mexico Judge sided with a conservative group to publish voter rolls online to the Voter Reference Foundation. The Voter Reference Foundation has a database that includes 32 states, including the District of Columbia, and is run by Gina Swoboda, President Trump’s former organizer in his 2020 re-election campaign.
A recent article by the Associated Press explains how state prosecutors have concerns that conservative state election officials across the U.S. have been connected to ties of being allies with former President Donald Trump and have continuously tried to push access for voter registration rolls to be published online.
“One of the most ambitious groups, the Voter Reference Foundation, was founded after the 2020 presidential election by Republican Doug Truax of Illinois to post online lists from every state,” according to the Associated Press.
With these voter rolls being published, people can sometimes access full names, home addresses, and party registration. Publishing voter rolls in states can cause identity theft, security risks, and stigmatization. Voter rolls should not have to be published online in a database where it can put people in danger. Unleashing public voter information can cause political party harassment and put people’s identities in danger.
Although conservatives claim that publishing voter rolls provides transparency and confidence in our election process, it does the opposite and instead makes voters hesitant to share their voter identity online.
Furthermore, there has been speculation of groups abusing the power of data information to perform malicious acts. With that, Democrats are now advocating for the ban on voter rolls and are trying to protect voter identity and assure voters trust the voting process. Conservatives need to stop forcing their agenda.
