The Libertarian Party of Alabama has sued Secretary of State John Merrill because Merrill’s office is charging the party about $34,000 for a voter list provided to the Democratic and Republican parties for free.

Merrill said he is following state law in applying the charge, which he said is based on one cent per voter name.

Attorney David Schoen of Montgomery, who represents the Libertarian Party, said there’s no justification for charging a minor political party for an electronic copy of a list that’s already prepared and given at no cost to the major parties.

“Literally they have to press send and they want to charge $34,000,” Schoen said.

The Libertarian Party filed the lawsuit last month in U.S. District Court in Montgomery. It claims that the law allowing the Democratic and Republican parties to get the list for free while minor parties must pay a prohibitively expensive amount violates the First Amendment and the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment. The Libertarian Party asks the court to block the law and to require the secretary of state’s office to provide the party the voter list at no charge.

Merrill’s office has not yet responded in court to the lawsuit.

In a phone interview, Merrill said he does not think the law allows for providing the list for free.

“It’s not that we’re favoring the Democrats and Republicans,” Merrill said. “It’s that we’re following the law and the laws says the Democrat party and the Republican party can each receive a full list of voters for their party and any other major party can receive that.”

The effort to achieve major party status and gain ballot access is a key reason the Libertarian Party says it needs the list.

To be listed on the statewide ballot in Alabama, a party must submit to the secretary of state a list of signatures of at least 3 percent of the voters who participated in the last election for governor. That threshold is set by state law.

That means the Libertarian Party needs 51,588 signatures to get statewide placement on the 2020 ballot.

The party’s lawsuit says the voter list provides vital information to parties trying to gain ballot access. The list shows where voters are concentrated and allows parties to reach out directly to voters at their homes and by name.

“A political party which does not have copy of the voter registration list is placed at a distinct disadvantage in its efforts to gain ballot access and to solicit and win votes,” the lawsuit says.

In August, the Libertarian Party sent an email asking the secretary of state’s office for the voter list because it needed to start its signature drive immediately, the lawsuit says. After getting no response, the party requested the list again in December, the lawsuit says.

Merrill’s office responded on Jan. 7, saying that the list was available in electronic format for about $34,000. The Libertarian Party filed the lawsuit on Jan. 23.

The lawsuit gives a brief history of the Libertarian Party of Alabama to make the point that its members and candidates have been active in state politics since 2000. According to the lawsuit, the Libertarian Party had 58 candidates on the Alabama ballot in 2002. It lost ballot access after that, but Libertarian candidates for president have continued to run as independents in Alabama. The party gained ballot access in Jefferson, Shelby, Chilton and Bibb counties in 2014 and 2018, the lawsuit says.

“The LPA has continued to seek ballot access in Alabama in many races for elective office, putting forward a platform of smaller government and greater individual freedoms and will do so in the future,” the lawsuit says.

Schoen said he thinks every citizen should have free access to the voter list because it is compiled at public expense. He said the lawsuit does not make that claim but does assert that a legitimate party like the Libertarian Party should have the same access as the Democratic and Republican parties.

“This is a viable political party that’s been on the ballot in the past,” Schoen said. “It’s not a fly by night type thing.”

Schoen said he believes the law as written would allow the secretary of state’s office discretion to provide the list for free to minor parties.

Merrill said he does not believe the law allows that discretion.

In addition to providing the voter list to the Democratic and Republican parties for free, the law allows several other entities access to the list.

Legislators can receive a copy of the list for their districts within 90 days after taking office.

The list is available to the Administrative Office of Courts to compile a master jurors list or other purposes.

The state provides the list to election officials in other states that have a reciprocal agreement to provide their lists at no cost to Alabama.

The lawsuit notes that the state law says the cost of providing an electronic copy “shall be reasonable as determined by the Secretary of State,” but says the one cent per name charge is “prohibitively expensive and has been set at a level that virtually ensures that a minor political part or an independent candidate could never afford it.”

The lawsuit says the requirement for 51,000 signatures is onerous and the requirement to pay for the voter list “is just one more obstacle Alabama places in the way of minor parties to try to prevent them from growing and gaining access to the ballot.”