ALBUQUERQUE — The American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico today filed a lawsuit against a Republican state lawmaker who released confidential information while making claims of vote fraud, a private investigator hired by a prominent Republican attorney, and as-yet-unnamed members of the state party. The lawsuit alleges that key members of the Republican Party of New Mexico violated the privacy rights of voters and illegally interfered with their right to vote.

Francisco Gonzales is one of the plaintiffs in a class action lawsuit NM Republicans. Photo by Consuelo Gonzales.

Francisco Gonzales, in white, is one of the plaintiffs in a class action lawsuit NM Republicans. Photo by Consuelo Gonzales.

Here’s what happened: At a news conference on Oct. 16 state Rep. Justine Fox-Young said, “We are presenting undeniable proof that there was voter fraud in the June election,” before passing out packets of information that included incompletely redacted copies of voter registration cards.

It’s that “undeniable proof” that landed Fox-Young’s name in the “defendants” box of a class action lawsuit today.

Fox-Young, an Albuquerque Republican, said at that press conference that members of the party had used Social Security numbers to run credit checks and driver’s license checks on the newly registered voters, but according to ACLU-NM, Fox-Young and others “illegally used private Social Security numbers to do background checks of legal voters and illegally disseminated confidential voter information to the press.”

One of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, Francisco Martinez, appeared at a news conference held this morning on the steps of the Bernalillo County Courthouse. Martinez, 19, said he registered to vote at West Mesa High School before graduating this spring.

“I thought my private information would be for official use only,” Martinez said Monday.

“What’s at stake here is the possibility of identity theft,” ACLU of New Mexico Executive Director Peter Simonson said. “Members of the GOP have willfully, negligently used this information without concern for the possible effects it could have on the privacy and the identities of the people we are representing,” he continued.

“The Social Security number and date of birth information is especially critical because it’s with this information that people with unscrupulous purposes can get access to bank accounts, financial investments, things of that nature,” he said.

According to the documents released by Fox-Young earlier this month, Republican investigators appear to have questioned Martinez’ registration because they could not associate a Social Security number with his name, could not find a driver’s license associated with his name and address, or pull up a credit report.

Martinez, who is now a liberal arts student at Central New Mexico Community College, said he was recently contacted by an ACORN staff member regarding the allegations of fraud.

“All he did was call my number and he reached me,” Martinez said. ”I went to the county clerk and got a copy of my registration and everything was right, my home address, my social, my name, everything was correct. There was nothing funny or wrong with it at all,” he said.

But the details of his registration are not pertinent to the lawsuit, according to the ACLU’s Simonson. “This information never should have made it into the hands of the GOP. The fact that they used that information is illegal. They broke the law. And moreover, one of the things that we hope to see come out of this lawsuit is evidence that points us to who released this information into the hands of the GOP,” he said.

Simonson explained that it was ACLU’s initial belief that the Bernalillo County Clerk was the source of the copies of the voter registration cards, because the forms appear to have been received by that office. But because all New Mexico county clerks’ offices have access to the same information, he said it could have come from any of them.

One of the other plaintiffs in the case, Emily Garcia, was the target of a visit made by Al Romero, a private investigator who said he worked for New Mexico Republican party attorney Pat Rogers.

“We are alleging that his attempts to interview and aggressively question a plaintiff were evidence of voter intimidation and an attempt to interfere with the constitutionally guaranteed right to vote,” Simonson said.

According to ACLU staff attorney George Bach, the number of plaintiffs and defendants in the lawsuit could grow. “There were 92 individuals whose registrations were unlawfully obtained, and as the litigation progresses we will determine exactly how many [participate],” he said.

And as more information comes to light about who was involved in disseminating voters’ private information, more defendants could be added, including, Simonson said, the state Republican Party itself.

Meanwhile, Martinez said he wasn’t taking any chances when it came to voting in this election.

“I voted early,” Martinez told reporters. “I said, ‘What? They’re trying to question whether I can vote? So I was like ‘I’m going straight down, right now, and make sure I can vote.’”

According to Simonson, time is of the essence. “The election is coming up very quickly and there could be other voters who are experiencing what happened to Francisco and we want to make sure that we put a stop to it immediately,” he said.

Calls to Rep. Fox-Young and private investigator Al Romero were not immediately returned.

UPDATE: The Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF) filed a separate lawsuit in federal court, alleging voter intimidation. The lead plaintiff is Dora Escobedo, the mother of Guadalupe Bojorquez, whom we interviewed last week; Bojorquez was the recipient of a visit by a private investigator who said he was hired by Republican Party attorney Pat Rogers.