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Bradley in DC
03-28-2008, 02:40 PM
Federal Court Gives Third Parties Equal Access to Voter Lists
Barr Praises Judge's Decision

Thursday, March 27, 2008 at 3:00 PM

Atlanta, GA – Former Congressman Bob Barr today issued a statement praising U.S. District Judge Nancy Edmunds as she struck down part of a Michigan state law that would have just given the state Republican and Democratic parties, and no other parties, party preference lists for voters who participated in the January presidential primary.

The ACLU filed a lawsuit against Michigan Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land (R), barring the State from providing the party preference declarations of voters solely to the two major political parties of the State in accordance with the primary election law.

In a 21-page opinion, Judge Nancy Edmunds struck down the portion of the law which made it a misdemeanor for anyone other than the two major parties, including other political parties, journalists, academics or historians, to have access or use the lists. She declared that this section of the law violated the equal protection rights of third parties, including the Libertarian Party.

Barr said “Michigan, or any other state for that matter, should not be allowed to limit access to such voter information to just the two major political parties while making it a crime for anyone else in the state to use or acquire this information. I applaud Judge Edmunds decision. Even though Michigan is not required to provide the party preference information to any party, now when it decides to do so, it must share them with the other major political parties.”

Barr, who serves on the National Committee of the Libertarian Party, said the ruling “will, in at least a small way, open up the political process so governments cannot discriminate against third parties in favor of the two major, status quo parties.”

For further information please visit http://www.bobbarr.org or contact Derek Barr at 770-836-1776.

Barr, a former Member of Congress (1995-2003), also served previously as a US Attorney and with the Central Intelligence Agency. He is a lawyer and currently works with national organizations on issues related to privacy and national security.

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