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The Watertown Daily Times on ballot images being viewable by the public, April 21

A state appeals court enhanced government transparency last week by expanding the definition of “public record.”

In the case of Kosmider v. Whitney, the state Supreme Court’s Appellate Division, Third Department, ruled April 12 that the electronically scanned images of ballots taken from voting machines are covered by the state Freedom of Information Law. These images do not reveal who cast the ballot, just how the person voted.

“In 2016, Essex County Democratic Committee Chairwoman Bethany Kosmider, a former supervisor of the town of Crown Point, sought access to the images of Essex County ballots and cast-vote records from the 2015 local election. She was denied,” according to a story by the Adirondack Daily Enterprise, published Sunday by the Watertown Daily Times. “Essex County Attorney Daniel Manning claimed FOIL didn’t cover the access she wanted and that a court order was required. In response, Kosmider wound up suing Essex County Election Commissioners Mark Whitney (Democratic) and Alison McGahay (Republican), as well as Bill Ferebee, R-Keene, who was then chairman of the Essex County Board of Supervisors.

“State Supreme Court Justice Martin Auffredou issued an order to Essex County that it had to release the images and records on Jan. 19, 2017,” the story reported. “The county appealed the ruling. Manning has told Sun Community News that the appeal was less about blocking transparency and more about respecting the privacy of voters. He said having the information readily available can create problems.”

But as pointed out in the story by Robert J. Freeman, executive director of the state Committee on Open Government, such a FOIL request would not invade someone’s privacy. There is nothing on the ballot indicating who cast it, so the voter’s anonymity is preserved. Would we tolerate a system that allowed government officials to identify who cast a particular ballot?

One advantage to having ballot information is so that people can see what combination of candidates was selected by individual voters. This is what Ms. Kosmider said she was trying to do when she requested the scanned images.

Mr. Manning said that Essex County may appeal this decision, but we urge authorities to drop this case. This court made the right decision for the right reason. This is pertinent information to members of the public, and the scanned ballot images should be accessible through FOIL requests.

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