Media network paid by GOP groups is behind deluge of election records requests

This article was co-published in partnership with The Guardian. Because some election officials know Local Labs sells its records requests services, they have been unsure whether they can legally release some records, so they’ve reached out to clarify the purpose of the requests. “That kind of request,” Olivia McCall, the county’s elections director, said, “shuts an office down.” Bartow County, Georgia, has received numerous extensive Local Labs requests, according to records provided by the county. “It’s not just something we can click a button and send out.” In response to a request for all absentee ballot envelopes, similar to the one received by Wake County, Kirk told Local Labs that it would take one person working 163 days straight to provide the estimated 104,572 responsive records, and it would cost Local Labs about $23,000. In Yavapai County, Matt Webber, who manages voter records for the county, told Local Labs that, of the 139 “discrepancies” they found, 105 were secure voters — voters who are legally left off the list the county sent Local Labs because they are in a protected category, like law enforcement or a victim of domestic violence — and some addresses were not accurate because a small number of voters moved shortly before the election.