DFL Chair Brian Melendez wants to make sure the Minneapolis Police Relief Association Political Fund and the Minneapolis Firefighters Political Fund didn't get hold of the party's voter file to send out a mailing.
In a Tuesday letter to chair of the police political fund Larry Ward, who was quoted in a Tuesday Star Tribune story as saying he didn't know where he got the list of voters he used but thought it was from a "voter file," Melendez said that "unlicensed use of data from the voter file may constitute the crime of computer theft."
In an interview Monday, Ward said he was unsure where exactly the funds got the lists of voters to whom they sent out a mailing criticizing gubernatorial candidate and Minneapolis R. T. Rybak. Ward said he was on vacation so couldn't answer questions about the exact origin of the mailing list they used.
Ward said the mailing went out to delegates and is addressed to "DFL Friend."
There are publicly accessible lists of past delegates but Rybak campaign manager Tina Smith said she had reports that the mailing went out not to delegates but to past caucusgoers. The only statewide database of past caucusgoers is held by the DFL. Only candidates and party units are allowed to have access to it.
