CONCORD, N.H. (AP) - The Latest on a legal dispute over whether New Hampshire will provide voter data to President Donald Trump’s commission on election fraud (all times local):
4:50 p.m.
New Hampshire Secretary of State Bill Gardner says sending voter data to President Donald Trump’s commission on election fraud will help voters develop and maintain a positive perspective on the election process.
Two state lawmakers and a civil rights group sued Gardner last month seeking to block him from sending names, addresses, party affiliation and history of voting to the panel.
But in an agreement announced in court Monday, both sides agreed that state law allows him to send scanned, unsearchable images of voter checklists that each town and city sends to the state archive.
Gardner, a member of the commission, says in arguing that his office would harm the public by providing the information, the plaintiffs unnecessarily undermined voter confidence.
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2:15 p.m.
New Hampshire will send scanned, unsearchable images of voter data to President Donald Trump’s commission on election fraud.
Two state lawmakers and a civil rights group sued Secretary of State and commission member Bill Gardner last month seeking to block him from sending names, addresses, party affiliation and history of voting to the panel.
But in an agreement announced in court Monday, both sides agreed that state law allows him to send the voter checklists each town and city sends to the state archive.
While the state also maintains an electronic voter database, state law does not allow the public to download or copy it. But printed checklists are considered public information.
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9:45 a.m.
The New Hampshire attorney general’s office says the law is clear that the state must provide publicly available voter information to President Donald Trump’s commission on election fraud.
Two lawmakers and a civil liberties group sued Secretary of State Bill Gardner - a member of the commission - last month to block him from sending voters’ names, addresses and history of voting to the commission.
On Monday, Associate Attorney General Anne Edwards filed a motion asking the judge to throw out the suit. She says while members of the public can’t download or copy information from an electronic database maintained by the state, the voter checklists maintained by each town and city and sent to the state archives are public records available for copying under the state’s Right-to-Know law.
A hearing is set for Monday afternoon.
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12:24 a.m.
Two lawmakers and a civil liberties group will be trying to convince a judge to block New Hampshire Secretary of State Bill Gardner from sending detailed voter information to President Donald Trump’s commission on election fraud.
Republican Rep. Neal Kurk, Democratic state Sen. Bette Lasky and the American Civil Liberties Union of New Hampshire sued Gardner last month, arguing he doesn’t have the authority under state law to provide voters’ names, addresses and voting history to Trump’s commission.
Gardner, a member of the commission, has said he believes sending the information is legal because he is allowed to share it with other states.
A hearing is set for Monday afternoon in Nashua.
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