
Voter Records for 2M Iowans Exposed on GOP Site - plorg
http://www.wsj.com/articles/voter-records-for-2-million-iowans-exposed-on-gop-site-1454602565
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Natsu
"The voting records don’t say who a person voted for, just whether or not they
voted. It includes presidential primary and general election records, as well
as state, local and school board elections dating back decades.

The database, which is a collection of public records, can be purchased from
the Iowa Secretary of State, typically for $1,500 to $1,800. Buyers must
promise to only use the information for political purposes."

In case anyone was wondering what's in the data.

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barsonme
It's public information in all 50 states. Some states require you to pay for
it, while others (like Washington[0]) provide it for free.

[0] - [https://www.sos.wa.gov/elections/vrdb-download-
form.aspx](https://www.sos.wa.gov/elections/vrdb-download-form.aspx)

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BogusIKnow
"Buyers must promise to only use the information for political purposes."

I promise!

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dbroockman
It's standard practice for states to salt their voter lists with fake names.
If, e.g., a non-political solicitation shows up to the fake name, the sender
is caught. Same thing with FEC data -- politicians have to list their donors
publicly, but it isn't legal for other politicians to solicit those people,
and the FEC enforces it with salting.

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dfc
The google trick no longer works for paywall bypass.

Its not just me: [http://digiday.com/publishers/wall-street-journal-paywall-
go...](http://digiday.com/publishers/wall-street-journal-paywall-google/)

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joshschreuder
It worked for me clicking through the 'web' link on HN (which does the Google
search) then clicking the top result.

~~~
ekianjo
nice! it works indeed.

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snowwrestler
This is public information. The only "bad" thing about the leak is that now
people can get this info without paying $2,000 for the privilege.

