Editorial: A relief for voters

Tuesday, Aug. 31, 2004 | 8:46 a.m.

Many people were surprised and outraged last week when they learned from a Las Vegas Sun story that because they had voted early, their names were posted on the Clark County Election Department's Web site -- along with their phone numbers and addresses. We, too, were surprised and concerned that the county would be so cavalier about people's personal information. In an editorial Thursday, we called for the county to stop the practice.

On Friday the county responded. It removed the addresses and phone numbers of those already listed on the Web site, and agreed to keep that information off of all future postings. In opposing the practice, we recalled what led to the federal law prohibiting the public release of information held by state motor vehicle departments. Criminals, including stalkers and murderers, were using the information to track down their victims. Voting records are public, but posting them on the Internet for all to see was not a public service.

The Election Department had reasoned that posting the information would save its staffers the trouble of handling innumerable requests by political organizations, which use the information for such activities as conducting polls and plotting campaign strategies. But it exposed voters to the anonymous accessing of their information by others whose intent might not be so benign.

We're glad the county recognized its mistake and moved quickly to rectify it.