'Over my dead body,' county official says
By Mike McCloy
The Arizona Republic
Feb 9, 2000
A Libertarian Party leader plans a "blow for freedom" by posting on the Internet personal information of 1 million Maricopa County voters on Feb. 23.
"Over my dead body," County Elections Director Karen Osborne responded, as she sought a court order to stop Ernie Hancock.
Hancock, Maricopa County Libertarian chairman, wants to give away at no cost what political campaigns must currently pay the GOP and the Democratic parties dearly for: mailing lists of registered voters.
Hancock's plan followed a ruling Jan. 27 by presiding Superior Court Judge Robert Myers. Settling a 5-year-old legitimacy dispute between Valley and Tucson Libertarians, the judge recognized Hancock's group as official and granted it access to the voter-registration database.
The taxpayer-funded databases are provided to political parties, which process them into mailing lists for sale to election campaigns.
"We will not benefit from taxpayer rip-offs," Hancock said.
The personal data in Osborne's computer database include addresses, telephone numbers, dates and places of birth, the final four digits of Social Security numbers and a record of when people voted.
Releasing the list invades privacy of people who gave information in exchange for the right to vote, Osborne said. She is concerned that the data could be used for marketing lists and to impersonate voters at the polls.
Even possessing the database for anything except political activities provided in law is a misdemeanor, punishable by 120 days in jail.
"I'll put in a disclaimer that it's only intended for political uses," Hancock said. "Make my day."