Pressure on DNC worked. Bernie Sanders has access to voter files.
The Democratic National Committee attempted to play hardball with the Bernie Sanders campaign by denying them access to their voter data. A bug in the NGP-VAN system, kept voter data from all campaigns commingled. A few Bernie Sanders staffers accessed the data and one was dismissed for doing so. Fired staffer Josh Uretsky implied the intent was to expose the problem. The Bernie Sanders campaign was defiant and sued the DNC for an overreaction for the failure of their third party database provider. The DNC capitulated and reinstated the Sanders campaign access to their voter files.
The DNC released the following statement early this morning.
DNC CHAIR STATEMENT ON VOTER FILE ACCESS
DECEMBER 19, 2015
Today, DNC Chair Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz issued the following statement:
“The Sanders campaign has now complied with the DNC’s request to provide the information that we have requested of them. Based on this information, we are restoring the Sanders campaign’s access to the voter file, but will continue to investigate to ensure that the data that was inappropriately accessed has been deleted and is no longer in possession of the Sanders campaign. The Sanders campaign has agreed to fully cooperate with the continuing DNC investigation of this breach. The fact that data was accessed inappropriately is completely unacceptable, and the DNC expects each campaign to operate with integrity going forward with respect to the voter file.
The DNC has worked hard to build a state-of-the-art voter file that will help us elect Democrats up and down the ticket in November and beyond, and we will continue to work with our vendor to ensure that a breach of this nature never, ever happens again and that our data is secure.
We are glad that all parties are moving forward and that the candidates and the party can refocus on engaging voters on the issues that matter to them: building on the President’s legacy of creating jobs, growing the economy, and a robust discussion on how we can keep Americans safe.”
Here is the Bernie Sanders campaign press release.
DNC to Restore Sanders Campaign’s Access to Voter Files
DECEMBER 19, 2015
WASHINGTON – The Democratic National Committee on Friday capitulated and agreed to reinstate Sen. Bernie Sanders’ campaign’s access to a critically-important voter database.
The about face came late on Friday night as a deadline neared for a hearing on a motion for an emergency injunction which the Sanders campaign sought after he sued the party in U.S. District Court in Washington.
The lawsuit sought the “immediate restoration” of the campaign’s access to the voter database. It argued that without the database, the campaign would lose some $600,000 a day in donations.
The campaign’s access to the database should be restored by Saturday morning in time for the campaign staff and volunteers to contact voters over the weekend.
“We are extremely pleased that the DNC has reversed its outrageous decision to take Sen. Sanders’ data. The information we provided tonight is essentially the same information we already sent them by email on Thursday,” said Jeff Weaver, Sanders’ campaign manager.
“Clearly, they were very concerned about their prospects in court. Now what we need to restore confidence in the DNC’s ability to secure data is an independent audit that encompasses the DNC’s record this entire campaign. Transparency at the DNC is essential. We trust they have nothing to hide,” Weaver added.
The DNC decision to let Sanders use his own database came after the national party was barraged with outraged messages from grassroots supporters of Sanders. There were more than 214,800 people who signed an online petition to the DNC circulated by Sanders’ campaign. MoveOn.org collected another 250,000 petition signatures and Democracy for America collected 100,000.
Earlier on Friday, Democracy for America issued a statement from Executive Director Charles Chamberlain saying, “The Democratic National Committee’s decision to attack the campaign that figured out the problem, rather than go after the vendor that made the mistake, is profoundly damaging to the party’s Democratic process. DNC leaders should immediately reverse this disturbing decision before the committee does even more to bring its neutrality in the race for President into question.”
Progressive groups throughout the day and night were tightening the screws on the Debbie Wasserman Schultz and the DNC. This was a very inept move on the part of DNC. It is common knowledge that they are trying their best to ensure a Hillary Clinton coronation. This move shows they do not understand the grassroots movement. What they are doing is further awakening a sleeping dog. This may be a blessing in disguise for the Bernie Sanders campaign.