As NMI reported Monday, The American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico has filed a lawsuit against NM State Rep. Justine Fox Young, Al Romero and as-yet-unnamed members of the state Republican party. Fox-Young was the one who released confidential information while making claims of vote fraud; Romero is the private investigator who said he was hired by Pat Rogers, a prominent Republican attorney. The lawsuit alleges that Fox-Young, Romero and possibly others violated the privacy rights of voters and illegally interfered with their right to vote.

There were two Republican responses in this morning’s Albuquerque Journal:

Fox-Young said in a written statement that the suit is an attempt to shift attention away from ACORN, a group accused of submitting fraudulent voter registration cards. The Bernalillo County clerk met with the FBI this month to discuss about 1,500 suspicious cards. 

NM State Rep. Justine Fox-Young

NM State Rep. Justine Fox-Young

“This lawsuit is another diversionary tactic intended to silence critics of ACORN’s corrupt practices,” Fox-Young said.

State GOP spokeswoman Shira Rawlinson called the ACLU lawsuit “desperate.”

“It should be a surprise to no one that the ACLU has filed a baseless lawsuit for political purposes on behalf of ACORN, an organization that not only has engaged in voter fraud, but has employed convicted felons as voter registrars,” Rawlinson said. 

NMI’s calls to Fox-Young, Pat Rogers and private investigator AL Romero have not been returned.