Maine Voter List Privacy Law Quashed by First Circuit

Maine’s voter file containing the names, addresses, birth years, and voting history of 1.1 million registered voters is a public record that can be reproduced despite the state’s privacy concerns, the First Circuit said Friday.

The National Voter Registration Act, which subjects records related to voter list maintenance to public inspection, overrides Maine’s law preventing people who obtain personal information from its voter registration system from republishing it online, the First Circuit said.

The NVRA mandates that all records “related to the carrying out of Maine’s voter list registration and maintenance activities” are subject to disclosure, and the voter file ...