MDP Voter File Access Questions

Over the last few days, a series of questions have arisen over the voter file access policy of the Missouri Democratic Party (MDP).

During the time that I have been Chair, the MDP has operated under the historic practice, modeled after the policy of many state parties, of granting automatic access to all candidates in races for which there is no incumbent. In races with an incumbent officeholder, the party has routinely granted access to that elected official as the “winner of the last primary” in that political subdivision. (These have typically been legislative races as there have been no congressional primaries during my time as Chair.)

This is a widely shared practice around the country, based on the recognition that the voter file is strengthened through additional data and that if Democratic officials fear that their data will be made available to opponents or potential opponents, they will be less likely to add data that strengthens the file for use by statewide Democratic candidates.

Late last year, state Senator Maria Chappelle-Nadal inquired about access to the voter file for her potential bid for Congress in the 1st Congressional District. After consulting with me, the staff informed Senator Chappelle-Nadal of our historic practice and advised her that the MDP would revisit that practice if we received notification from the 1st Congressional District Committee that they wished for us to vary from the MDP historic practice.

As of this date, the MDP has not received any such notification from the 1st Congressional District Commitee. Within the last week or so, Senator Chappelle-Nadal again requested access and has since stated her complaint about the MDP’s practice via social media.

In a conversation with me today, Senator Chappelle-Nadal requested that the MDP’s voter file access practice be memorialized into a formal policy of the MDP so that everyone will know what to expect when seeking office as a Democrat— a request I told her I agreed was fair. I also assured her that I would put this on the agenda for the State Committee at its next meeting later this month.

Action by the State Committee on that timetable will give candidates plenty of time to plan their campaigns based on the formalized MDP policy, as the meeting will take place before candidate filing for the 2016 primaries opens.

In the meanwhile, it should be noted that candidates who do not receive voter file access from MDP still have other options. Voter file access can be obtained from commercial vendors.

And lastly, I am concerned that some of the discussions via social media may have created the misimpression that Senator Chappelle-Nadal has been prevented from accessing the voter file at all. Rest assured that she has full access to the file for her current State Senate District.

While this policy is being memorialized, the MDP will continue to work to elect Democrats up and down the ticket.