One state legislator told Madison's Isthmus newspaper voter lists collected from clerks in her district used to cost her a total of $75. Now available only through the Elections Board, her list will cost about $500. A copy of the entire statewide voter list will cost $12,500.Maybe the voter lists wouldn't be for sale if smaller campaigns could buy them at a reasonable price. People complain about the cost of elections and how much politicians have to fundraise from various sources. They might want to know how much their government is unnecessarily adding to those costs.
The board says the big fee - a flat $25 plus $5 for every 1,000 names - is needed to pay for the new $28 million statewide voter database - warts and all - and that some of the people who buy voter lists are going to sell them for a profit anyway.
Tuesday, January 09, 2007
Barrier to entry
This is outrageous.
