http://www.azleg.state.az.us/ars/16/168.htm This is the Arizona law that allows the political parties to obtain personal information on every Arizona voter for free.
It is my goal to create a block to what is proposed (the availability of private information intrusted to government without my permission). The way the law reads now, as long as the information is agreed to be for political purposes, anyone can have it. The Democrats were quoted as saying that they have sold it for as little as $15 for an entire congressional district. Bad enough. But if you were a "challenger" candidate you'd have to go pay 10 cents a name for the data.
You'll find that the main reason for opposition to the posting on the internet from the R's and D's is that we are making it available (in strict accordance with the law) for free. Even some claiming to be libertarians wish to also restrict the data to candidates they choose and have this taxpayer funded political welfare make them money.
We could have just pushed a button and put this information directly on the internet and announced the web page address. Instead, we have given the County Attorney's office plenty of time to try and stop us with the current law. What we have informed the populace of is this; When you provide the government with private information it is no longer private. And this data is provided free to the very people we should fear the most, the political machines,... even Libertarian ones.
I am looking forward to see if the court will be able to stop this release.
As long as we require the EXACT agreement from those that will download this information that the county recorders do, then what law is broken. If an individual agrees in writting to use the data for "political" purpose from us or the County Recorder and then uses it to sell the Rush L. Newsletter, who do you charge with a crime? If you are able to argue that the newsletter marketing is not political in nature, then would you be able to file charges against the Recorder of the County?... or the Libertarian - Democratic - Republican Parties?
After 10 years of lawsuits, initiatives and political campaigns I have yet to be able to inform the people of this very dangerous situation. And no legislator will offer a bill that would give an individual the opportunity to check a box that would delete them from this public record that can be obtained for free and with NO restrictions by walking up to a public computer at the County Recorder election's office and look up anyone you want that is registered to vote.
I remember the movie "Instinct" when Anthony Hopkins has Cuba Gooding Jr. in a death grip and asks him what he has taken from him..... the answer was, his illusions.
Plenty of time remains. Let's see how informed the voter is in another couple of weeks.
Ernest Hancock Maricopa County Party Chairman Arizona Libertarian Party