Davis Campaign Buying Voter Histories

By Scott Draper
Reporter / WJHL
Published: August 14, 2008

    “We are gathering data right now from all over the district”, Said Congressman David Davis in an interview on Tuesday.  He believes some Democrats were voting in the Republican primaries for Phil Roe to make sure Davis wouldn’t win the nomination.  Tennessee Law state, a primary election can be challenged if it can be proved a voter switched parties despite a clear party affiliation.  As part of Davis’s investigation, he plans to purchase voter histories from the Election Commission.
    What exactly does voter histories show?
    “What happens is when we enter the names of those individuals that participated in the elections, what’s posted on their record is simply that they participated in the election and if they voted in a primary or if they vote in a general election.“ said Gena Frye, the Administrator of Elections for Sullivan County.
    The voter history will not reveal who you voted for, or even what party you are affiliated with.  It simply shows a pattern of whether you vote, and if so, which primary you are choosing to vote in, Republican or Democrat.
    According to the Election Commission, it is not uncommon for political campaigns to purchase this information from them.
    “A lot of campaigns like to contact people when they are running for office or doing mailers”, said Frye.
    For investigative purposes, it could help Davis uncover a pattern of which party a known Democrat or Republican is voting for in a primary.  It could also show a persons pattern of voting for a specific party, but changing their party for the first time last week.
    Davis won’t be able to obtain the voter histories for at least another week or so. 
    The Election Commission has to have their number of votes certified by Monday, after that, a candidate has 5 days to file a complaint with the GOP Primary Board to contest the primary election.