Government records director denies petition to release 2024 nomination petition packets, calls request duplicative

Director David of the Department of Government Records on the record denied an appeal of a petitioner’s records request for candidate nomination petition packets, concluding the November 2025 request was unreasonably duplicative of a 2024 request and that the appeal is barred by prior judicial proceedings.

The petitioner’s counsel, identified in the hearing record as Miss Claussen, told the tribunal she sought full petition packets after being given heavily redacted lists earlier and after learning — she said via a whistleblower — of apparent forgeries in circulation that affected the 2024 lieutenant governor primary. "Our privacy laws are not meant to protect fraud," Claussen said. "They are supposed to prevent fraud, and here they are using [privacy] to protect actual fraud." Claussen urged the office to release unredacted packets or conduct an in-camera review to identify forged entries and release those names to victims.

Respondent counsel, identified in the record as Mr. Cheney and representing the Lieutenant Governor’s Office, disputed the petitioner’s request to re-litigate matters decided in court. Cheney told the tribunal the office had provided access consistent with GRAMA and the election code — offering an in-person inspection and redacted lists where statutes permit withholding. "I want to make a general denial for the record," Cheney said, rejecting allegations of concealment and arguing the tribunal lacks authority to overturn district court rulings.

Both sides focused on whether new evidence (whistleblower documents and references to criminal investigations) changed the legal analysis. Petitioners argued the Lieutenant Governor's Office omitted material facts in earlier court filings and that alleged forgeries (petitioners cited an instance they described as 858 forged signatures on certain rolls) should compel release. Respondent counsel said signature-validation and criminal investigations are handled at county clerk or law-enforcement levels, and that any new judicial remedy belongs in the courts.

Director David said he was not persuaded the November request differed sufficiently from the 2024 request and found the appeal unreasonably duplicative under GRAMA's duplicative-request provision. He also concluded the appeal was barred insofar as it sought to revisit issues the district court had already addressed. He ordered that a written decision would be issued within seven business days and noted the parties retain the right to seek review in district court.

The hearing record includes repeated requests from petitioners for full access to nomination-petition packets and a proposal that the office perform an in-camera review or release specific names identified as forged. The Lieutenant Governor's Office maintained its statutory reading of GRAMA and the election code and said it had offered the access those statutes allow.

The director closed the hearing by saying the written order would explain the legal reasoning and next procedural steps for any further judicial review.