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This week was Sunshine Week, a week that celebrates and promotes access to information and open government nationwide.
It also provides an opportunity to evaluate threats to sunshine laws across the country at a time when the fight for accountability is facing increasingly aggressive obstacles. Government officials from Florida to Washington state are rewriting rules and weakening laws to limit your access to information about how the government is operating and how officials are spending time and taxpayer money.
- In Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis has used claims of “executive privilege” to hide documents from the public, and helped pass a law shielding his travel records. His office’s pattern of unlawful and unjustified delay in responding to requests is why we recently sued.
- In Kentucky, House lawmakers recently passed a bill that has concerned open-records advocates.
- Utah Gov. Spencer Cox signed a bill last month shielding the calendars of state officials from view, meaning the people of Utah will no longer be able to see records that can tell them who is helping sway legislation affecting their lives.
- Last year, Arizona’s legislature implemented rule changes that instruct lawmakers to delete communications, thus allowing them to avoid releasing documents under the state’s public records law.
- North Carolina’s General Assembly tucked a sweeping change into last year’s state budget, making them exempt from the public records law governing the rest of the state government.
- Similar attempts to shield records from the public have been proposed in New Jersey, Colorado, Ohio and Washington in recent years.
This isn’t an exhaustive list of threats to information access or of ways public officials grind the gears of disclosure nearly to a halt. And we aren’t the only watchdog or media outlet tracking these trends — here are some highlights from this week:
- Nationwide review finds patchwork, ‘broken’ systems for resolving open records disputes (Associated Press)
- How much access to government records does the public deserve? (New York Times)
- FOIA Advisory Committee Recommendations Recap (The FOIA Ombudsman)
- FOIA expansion to the governor and Legislature makes it out of Michigan Senate committee (News From The States)
- The Foilies 2024: Recognizing the worst in government transparency (Muckrock)
- Open government advocate still has concerns over revised open records bill passed by Kentucky House (Associated Press)
- 'New day in Lansing' as lawmakers advance FOIA bills, introduce transparency measures (Detroit Free Press)
- Lawmakers approve controversial bill to limit public access to government records (New Jersey Monitor)
To celebrate Sunshine Week, we published several guides, explainers, and resources across our social media platforms, including:
Join Us for a Virtual Event!
On March 26 at 2 p.m. ET, we’ll be joined by voting-rights and election-administration experts from All Voting is Local, the Brennan Center, and the Campaign Legal Center for a discussion of how the election denial movement and far-right misinformation pushed nine states to reject the nonpartisan Electronic Registration Information Center.
Register now for “Democracy Under Threat: The Campaign to Dismantle the ERIC Voter List System” to hear from our panelists on the anti-voter networks pushing the withdrawals from ERIC, the grave impacts of the exodus, and what it means for the 2024 election. We will share highlights from our in-depth investigation and report, and attendees will be able to ask questions. Panelists include:
- Alex Gulotta, State Director at All Voting is Local, Arizona
- Andrew Graber, Democracy Counsel at the Brennan Center
- Brad Ashwell, State Director at All Voting is Local, Florida
- Chioma Chukwu, Deputy Director at American Oversight
- Jonathan Diaz, Director of Voting Advocacy and Partnerships at the Campaign Legal Center
On the Records
Columbia County’s Potential Election Law Violation
Last week, American Oversight and the Campaign Legal Center urged Georgia officials to investigate a potential violation of state law in Columbia County’s agreement with a controversial voter-roll software company, EagleAI.
- In December 2023, Columbia County announced its intent to contract with EagleAI — a company that has been pushed by prominent election deniers like Cleta Mitchell — to review voter challenges and conduct list maintenance activities.
- While Georgia is a member of ERIC, which helps states keep voter lists up to date, last year’s withdrawals from ERIC opened the door for election deniers to begin pushing flawed alternatives like EagleAI that could be used by fraud activists to challenge others’ voter registrations.
- We obtained a one-year agreement between Columbia County and EagleAI in which the county agreed to pay a $2,000 licensing fee for the software. We also obtained an email from the Columbia County elections director to EagleAI’s founder Rick Richards just two months prior to the announced contract, asking about an alleged “hack” of EagleAI’s software.
Records obtained by Documented indicate that the $2,000 fee is merely “nominal,” having been added with the intent of evading a recently changed election law. Accepting election-related services at below-market rates — even if the county paid a nominal fee — would likely violate a state law passed last year that bans using non-public funds, including gifts and grants, for election-related costs and expenses.
- In a March 2023 presentation to a working group from Mitchell’s Election Integrity Network, Richards described his intention to offer EagleAI’s services to the county without charge. Mitchell stated that providing EagleAI’s services for free would violate the law, which at the time was moving through the legislature, and advised Richards to charge the county a small fee to “get past” the bill’s requirements. In response, Richards stated that EagleAI “can charge a nominal fee.”
- In an email a couple of months later to the general counsel for the Georgia secretary of state, Richards wrote that he had planned on charging Columbia County only $1 per year, unless a fee in that amount would violate the law, in which case EagleAI could “certainly charge more.”
The RNC’s New ‘Election Integrity’ Attorney
Christina Bobb, a former Trump attorney and conservative TV presenter, is now the Republican National Committee’s senior counsel for “election integrity.” Bobb was a major figure in the fake-electors scheme and efforts to overturn Trump’s 2020 loss, and records we obtained provided key details about her support for the Arizona Senate’s partisan “audit” of the 2020 election.
- In December 2020, Bobb — who had the time was working closely with Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani to assemble proof of supposed voter fraud — provided Arizona Senate President Karen Fann with purported “evidence,” writing that Giuliani had “asked me to send [Fann] these declarations.”
- In August 2021, as the “audit” was in full swing, Bobb asked Fann if she could share her contact information with attorney Michael Gableman, who had been hired to run the Wisconsin Assembly’s partisan election inquiry. Fann replied, “Absolutely of course.”
- On Oct. 1, 2021 — the same day Gableman issued subpoenas for election materials in Wisconsin — Doug Logan, the CEO of lead “audit” contractor Cyber Ninjas, sent Bobb copies of Arizona “audit” subpoenas.
- We obtained these documents through our investigation into the Arizona “audit.” Learn more about what we uncovered here.
Other Stories We're Following
Election Denial and Threats to Democracy
- Election officials’ homes ‘swatted’ as presidential race heats up (CNN)
- Barry County sheriff vows to fight subpoena for election probe records (Detroit News)
- Combating threats to election workers ahead of the 2024 election (Democracy Docket)
- Conservatives are warning about noncitizens voting. It's a myth with a long history (NPR)
- The GOP’s new ‘election integrity’ push is off to a conspiratorial start (Washington Post)
- Trump campaign insider recounts failed hunt for 2020 fraud in new book (Washington Post)
Voting Rights
- The Republican National Committee sues Michigan over the state's voter rolls (NBC News)
- Wisconsin Supreme Court agrees to take case that could again allow use of absentee drop boxes (Wisconsin Examiner)
- Louisiana legislation targets mail-in absentee voting as it gains in popularity (Louisiana Illuminator)
- Senate sends Mississippi early voting measure to House (News from the States)
- Indiana governor signs controversial bill to make it easier to purge voter rolls (Democracy Docket)
In the States
- Uvalde police chief resigns after controversial report cleared officers who responded to school shooting (Texas Tribune)
- El Paso judge blocks Ken Paxton’s efforts to subpoena Annunciation House (Texas Tribune)
- The Safer Kentucky Act source list is ‘cut and paste’ from a Georgia policy paper (Kentucky Public Radio)
- Robin Vos recall organizers fail to submit enough valid signatures, initial review finds (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)
- South Dakota legislator calls for inquiry into Gov. Noem’s Texas dental trip and promo video (Associated Press)
- A small city in Oklahoma elected a white nationalist. Will it be able to vote him out? (NBC News)
- Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman moves to restart executions (News from the States)
- Lawmakers question Landry administration’s domestic violence shelter funding cut (News from the States)
LGBTQ Rights
- In states with laws targeting LGBTQ issues, school hate crimes quadrupled (Washington Post)
- 'Don't Say Gay' settlement allows Florida students and teachers discuss sexual orientation, gender ID (Tallahassee Democrat)
- Arkansas stops offering ‘X’ as an alternative to male and female on driver’s licenses and IDs (Associated Press)
- Gov. Pillen approves Nebraska gender care regulations (Nebraska Examiner)
- Georgia senator seeks to add puberty blockers to banned trans treatments (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
- California school district changes gender-identity policy after being sued by state (Associated Press)
- Utah prison discriminated against transgender woman, Department of Justice finds (Associated Press)
- ‘Hungry for control’: Kansas House advances ban on gender-affirming care for trans minors (Kansas Reflector)
- Transgender Kansans appeal court order blocking changes to driver’s license gender markers (Kansas Reflector)
- Minnesota weighs cash aid for families moving for gender-affirming care (Axios)
Abortion and Reproductive Rights
- Asked to clear up abortion bans, GOP leaders blame doctors and misinformation for the confusion (Associated Press)
- Texas Medical Board to consider issuing guidance on abortion laws’ medical exceptions (Texas Tribune)
- Wisconsin AG hints at broader abortion lawsuit if state Supreme Court agrees to hear case (Wisconsin Public Radio)
- Murrill among AGs who oppose Maine ‘shield law’ for reproductive, gender-affirming care (News from the States)
- Missourians back initiative to restore abortion rights by small margin, new poll finds (Missouri Independent)
- Kansas House committee considers abortion coercion bill, funding for anti-abortion services (Kansas Reflector)
- Alabama House Democrats introduce bill to protect contraceptive access (Alabama Reflector)
- For teens in Texas, getting birth control without parental consent just got even tougher (19th News)
- Republicans want to stay away from the IVF issue. Abortion foes won’t let them. (Washington Post)
Threats to Education
- NAACP calls on Black student-athletes to boycott Florida public colleges over anti-DEI policy (NBC News)
- How Florida State University quietly dismantled its diversity, equity and inclusion office (Tallahassee Democrat)
- PragerU is a conservative video giant. Here's why it's trying to get into schools (NPR)
Immigration
- Biden temporarily blocked from diverting border barrier funds (Texas Tribune)
- While bused migrants overwhelm other cities, D.C. scales back services (Washington Post)
- ‘Anti-immigrant’: Latino advocates slam bill passed by Georgia House after UGA killing (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
Trump Accountability
- The CDC could shrink under a second Trump administration (Politico)
- Trump takes control of the RNC with mass layoffs, restructuring (Washington Post)
- Judge dismisses some charges against Trump in the Georgia 2020 election interference case (Associated Press)
- Race is an ever present source of tension in Trump Georgia case (Washington Post)
Jan. 6 Investigations
- Trump says he'll free Jan. 6 defendants as one of ‘first acts’ if he's elected again (CBS News)
- House GOP launches new probe of Jan. 6 and tries shifting blame for Capitol attack away from Trump (Associated Press)
- Testimony fleshes out account of Trump’s demand to go to Capitol on Jan. 6 (New York Times)
- DHS officials’ texts show unfiltered reaction to January 6 (Citizens for Ethics)
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