New Mexico Sued For Charging $5,000 To Access Public Voter Data

Public Interest Legal Foundation filed lawsuit The New Mexico secretary-of-state will not accept any payment exceeding $5,000 per copy The state’s voter rolls.

PILF charges a high fee for a duplicate of the New Mexico voter rolls. According to the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA), states must keep the voter rolls for at least two years, and then make the data available to the public by charging a modest fee. “photocopying at a reasonable cost.” PILF claims it didn’t request photocopies, but only electronic copies.

“New Mexico’s $5,000 fee to obtain a copy of the voter roll electronically conflicts with the NVRA,” J. Christian Adams, President of the PILF stated in a statement. “This excessive fee serves as a roadblock to the NRVA’s purpose to allow the public to hold their election officials accountable by ensuring that they are keeping their voter rolls accurate and up to date. Election officials cannot charge anything other than photocopying costs to obtain accesses to registration records.”

New Mexico is not the only state that charges exorbitant prices for voter rolls copies. This blocks public access. A PILF spokesperson stated that Alabama charges $30,000 to obtain a copy its voter rolls. Virginia charges $10,000 and Wisconsin $12,500. Louisiana and Texas charge $5,500 and $5,000, respectively, similar to New Mexico.

The excessive fees are another example of government accountability and transparency barriers that good government organizations face. Many are therefore prevented from accessing the state voter rolls.

The Federalist reached out to The New Mexico Secretary Of State, but was not able to get a reply.

Victoria Marshall works as a staff writer for The Federalist. Her work has appeared in Townhall, National Review and the New York Post. Hillsdale College graduated her in May 2021, with a double major in journalism and politics. Follow her @vemrshll on Twitter

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