The Republican National Committee (RNC) filed a lawsuit Thursday against the New Jersey Division of Elections for allegedly failing to comply with a request made under the state’s Open Public Records Act (OPRA), the Daily Caller News Foundation has learned.
The RNC filed their original records request on March 25, requesting records concerning New Jersey’s voter roll maintenance and voting machine seal audit logs, according to the lawsuit. The RNC made another request on June 3, with both requests left unanswered by New Jersey Secretary of State Tahesha Way for over three months. On June 16 and July 3, the RNC requested these records by letter, and the Secretary of State’s office released partial responses to three of the 18 original requests, according to the lawsuit TKTK.
The RNC is also sending a letter to the U.S. Department of Justice, requesting an investigation into Way’s potential failure to comply with the National Voter Registration Act, citing the fact that New Jersey has significantly higher voter registration rates than the national numbers. They also sent a letter to Way requesting an explanation for the state’s refusal to comply with OPRA.
“State officials are slow walking access to records about voting machines and voter roll maintenance,” RNC Chairman Michael Whatley told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “The RNC is taking legal action because the people of New Jersey have a right to know that their elections are being run fairly, securely, and in full compliance with the law.”
The OPRA was instituted in New Jersey in 2002 and requires records custodians to fulfill all requests within seven days. The New Jersey Division of Elections allegedly ignored the RNC’s original requests.
“This is an action under the Open Public Records Act, N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1, et seq., and the common law right of access,” the lawsuit states. “Defendant has refused to provide the RNC with publicly available documents related to voting machine seal audit logs and its voter maintenance procedures as required by law.”
This lawsuit follows an election integrity probe by the RNC in May, where the RNC sent letters to chief election officers in 48 states and the District of Columbia, requesting that the states provide documents showing how they maintain and clean their voter rolls. New Jersey has allegedly failed to comply with this request. The RNC has also recently filed lawsuits against states failing to comply with their requests, most recently against Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes in June.
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