Calling the claims against her “politically motivated and spurious,” Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes denied that she ever improperly obtained voter data or that she took inappropriate action in a contract with a state vendor. “Candidates for office in Kentucky have a number of available alternatives to obtain voter data, including purchasing it from the State Board of Elections or receiving it from political parties,” Bradford Queen, Grimes’ communications director, said in written statement Thursday. “As a result, in her capacity as a candidate, Secretary Grimes would have no reason to obtain voter data by other means.”
In a 17-page letter released to the press this week and sent to four of six members of the Board of Elections on Oct. 21, Matthew Selph, the recently-fired assistant to the director of the State Board of Elections, alleged Grimes’ office had ordered a staffer to collect data from the State Board of Elections voter registration system on a thumb drive.
Selph’s allegations were based on a conversation with a staff member from the Secretary of State’s office. Selph said he was told the staffer had been ordered to collect “All kinds of data, like during their elections, they would ask me to come over here and get data for them.”
Candidates and political parties are limited in how much data they are eligible to receive from the State Board of Elections Voter Registration System. There is information in the system, like unique voter registration numbers, that parties and candidates cannot access.
Full Article: Grimes denies allegations of gathering improper voter data | Lexington Herald Leader.