Georgia's secretary of state Brian Kemp doxes thousands of absentee voters

[Qutzupalotl]

Source: TechCrunch

Georgia’s secretary of state and candidate for state governor in the midterm election, Brian Kemp, has taken the unusual, if not unprecedented step of posting the personal details of 291,164 absentee voters online for anyone to download.

Kemp’s office posted an Excel file on its website within hours of the results of the general election, exposing the names and addresses of state residents who mailed in an absentee ballot — including their reason why, such as if a person is “disabled” or “elderly.”
....

The file, according to the web page, allows Georgia residents to “check the status of your mail-in absentee ballot.” Millions of Americans across the country mail in their completed ballots ahead of election day, particularly if getting to a polling place is difficult — such as if a person is disabled, elderly or traveling.
....
State laws put heavy restrictions on what can be done with voter data; rules that may not apply to the general public who can now just readily download hundreds of thousands of voter records.


Read more: https://techcrunch.com/2018/11/07/georgia-secretary-of-state-brian-kemp-doxes-thousands-absentee-voters/

[RockRaven]

1. Is there, by any chance, grounds for these people to sue the sh*t out of this guy for this?

Just curious what recourse, if any, if available...

[SunSeeker]

2. WTF?

[2naSalit]

3. Wow! Abuse of office and illegal as hell!

[MikeMa2]

4. Gozmodo Story

"Under Georgia law, all data collected on voters must be made “available for public inspection,” with the exception of a few items: Social Security numbers, dates of birth, driver’s license numbers, and “the locations at which the electors applied to register to vote.” The Georgia Secretary of State’s office even runs an online store where this information can be purchased on the cheap. A single county’s voter list can be bought for $50 while a statewide voter list cost $250. It’s not immediately clear why absentee and early voter lists are made public for free."

- https://gizmodo.com/no-brian-kemp-did-not-just-doxx-georgia-voters-but-the-1830295683

[YOHABLO]

8. The citizens of GA should not have to pay for this information.

[appalachiablue]

5. Can't make this sh*t up, sub banana republic 'governance.'

Also now on the Front Page, From Stacy Abrams camp: " 700 Wrapped Voting Machines Found In A Georgia Warehouse"

[pioche4]

6. Fuck! This has got to be illegal! I check it out...there are 160 different .csv (excel) files...

http://elections.sos.ga.gov/Elections/voterabsenteefile.do

under absentee files (HTTP download), select election year 2018, election category: statewide

a zip file is there to be downloaded, i downloaded it and yup, csv files of absentee voters

[bmpbmp]

9. I'm serious...

This is unfucking believable.

[C Moon]

7. The GOP is getting scared.

[riversedge]

10. .....exposing the names and addresses of state residents

...exposing the names and addresses of state residents who mailed in an absentee ballot — including their reason why, such as if a person is “disabled” or “elderly.”

[Hekate]

11. That detail is where it differs from a basic precinct list, used all the time for phone banking

The precinct list is like a public phone book in its details -- and the facts of your voter reg are a public document.

But to tell anyone who asks that you and your dwelling are especially vulnerable? Mrs Jones is travelling. Mr Brown is an old guy. Miss Green is disabled.

Really? Why is that even the County Registrar's business? Out here in California, you can just check off a box for permanent absentee voting, no reason demanded.

Shit. Welcome to the New Jim Crow, now just not for black people.