Victory For Election Integrity in Arizona! UPDATED

Today, Judge Miller ruled that all databases from election past and future must be disclosed to the political parties. This is a victory for citizen oversight of our elections, complete vindication of the hard work and passionate advocacy of the Pima County Democratic Party and it’s attorney, Bill Risner, and a repudiation of the obsfucation, stone-walling, and out-right lies of the Pima County Administration and County Attorney’s office in the course of this litigation.

More after I have a chance to read Judge Miller’s ruling…

Arizona Daily Star coverage.
Tucson Citizen coverage.

UPDATE:

Download UnderAdvisemtRulingC2007207352308.pdf

From what knowledge I’ve gained of public records law and elections law
through this lawsuit, Judge Miller’s ruling is reasonable, correctly
interprets the relevant statutes and case law, and would hold up very
well to any appellate review.

Key to Judge
Miller’s ruling that all past database files must be released was his
finding that there was no evidence presented to the court that there
had been any harm to election security as a result of the prior release
of two database files from 2006 ordered by the court, and subsequently
expanded by the Pima County Board of Supervisors to roughly 300 files.
Public pressure that forced the Board’s hand was therefore very useful
in the ultimate resolution of this controversy. None of the experts
from which the Court accepted testimony attempted to measure the impact
of that release; at most the Party’s experts inferred in their
responses that there would be no impact. The Court therefore took into
account the absence of any adverse consequences from the earlier
release of the 2006 records in finding that the County had failed to
overcome the presumption that public records must be released when
requested.

The Court dealt separately with
the issue of a prospective application of its order to release the
records to future elections. He reasoned that since the files are a
regular and necessary part of the election process, are readily
identifiable, and the public policy reasons supporting release apply to
all future elections, a prospective order was proper. The one caveat is
that the Judge left open the possibility that the County might seek
specific relief for cause from the order.

The
Court then considered the proper timing of the release and concluded
that to prevent any confusion and to uphold the statutory roles of the
canvassing boards and county government, the files should be released
no later than announcement of the official canvass. That announcement
starts the clock for any legal challenge to the election, making that
the most appropriate deadline for the release. Thus the database files
now become an integral part of the multiple election records that are
exchanged, release, declared, and officially recorded.

Now
the question becomes whether the County Board of Supervisors will
appeal Judge Miller’s ruling. Only 5 people (or is it just 1?) in Pima
County can answer that question. And they won’t answer it unless asked.
Repeatedly. Broadly. Authoritatively. If you feel strongly about this
issue, let people know. Tell your Party leaders. Tell your elected
officials. They can’t act on your opinions unless they know them.

Now
is the time for those Democrats on the Board who have been intransigent
about this issue to see the light and allow themselves to bepersuaded
by the elegant and entirely satisfactory vision of Judge Miller that
release of the database files used to tabulate the election become a
routine and integral part of the process by which the public is
informed and reassured that all is well with their democracy. They need
to come back in from the cold, listen to their own Party’s united voice
and stop allowing the Administration of Chuck Huckelberry make them fools and villains
in the eyes of the own natural constituents. You might think that the
primary challenges to Democrats springing out of the grassroots might
be enough to persuade them. Maybe the voice of justice, added to the
voice of the activists will be enough to finally stir their consciences.