Voting Activist Sues State for Access to Election Records

None by KCPW

(KCPW News) Voting rights activist Kathy Dopp is suing the State of Utah over election laws that are keeping her from reviewing election records in Summit County.

"In Utah, whatever county clerks want to call election returns can be kept locked up and secret from the public for 22 months and then destroyed," says Dopp. "I've never seen a law like that in any other state."

Dopp and her attorney Brian Barnard say that state law shouldn't even be on the books because it conflicts with the National Voter Registration Act which stipulates that voter registration materials must be available for public inspection for at least 24 months after a federal election. Dopp says Summit County and state elections officials have turned down her request to access the county's 2006 primary and general election records. Barnard says that denial raises a red flag:

"There has to be certain standards met with regard to record keeping, registration and verification," says Barnard. "Seems to me Summit County, by not allowing us to see the records, makes us wonder whether they're complying or not."

Barnard says the lawsuit is not asking for money damages, but rather access to the records and that state law be changed to conform with the federal law. Lt. Governor Gary Herbert is named as a party in the lawsuit.

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