Agency’s excuse for withholding records is bogus

Dianna Duran

NMPolitics - Tax and Revenue refused in May to release documents related to the secretary of state’s claim about foreign nationals illegally voting, saying they were part of a police probe; we now know that police aren’t investigating, so that isn’t a valid reason to withhold records. I told you in June that the state’s Taxation and Revenue Department had largely rejected my request for records related the secretary of state’s claim that she uncovered “evidence” of foreign nationals illegally voting in elections. Tax and Revenue (TRD) cited the law enforcement exception to the state’s Inspection of Public Records Act (IPRA) to justify redacting e-mails between TRD and the secretary of state related to the situation, and to withhold all attachments. Those attachments included spreadsheets and other documents that Secretary of State Dianna Duran’s office compared with voter registration forms. The reason TRD refused to release them? “The Secretary of State’s Office turned this investigation over to the State Police, which is continuing the investigation,” TRD records custodian Patricia A. Silva wrote in her May 26 letter explaining that the records fell under the law enforcement exception to IPRA. But on Sept. 3, the Albuquerque Journal dropped a bomb on that argument: Read full story here: News New Mexico

Agency’s excuse for withholding records is bogus