While public document fees are not unreasonable for the purpose of covering the cost of the materials or labor required to meet a request, at what point do these sums become an obstacle for the average citizen? When does the sum begin to limit access otherwise protected by law?
In the case of voter checklists the state defines the allowable (optional) fee of $25.00 for the first 2500 names and an additional 0.50 cents per 1000 names after that. Using this formula a city the city of Nashua would charge less than $40.00 for their voter checklist, a sum that is already beginning to exceed what most people might be willing to part with for public documents, but not unreasonable in most cases where the list is already in electronic form and available with a click of a mouse.
In such circumstances where the documents are going to be converted into electronic form anyway (like for sharing with the Secretary of State), asking for no more than a few dollars for the entire list would make it accessible to anyone at any income level. Some towns already acknowledge this need for accessibility and provide access to their entire voter checklist for free, even providing a link online that is updated when the list is.
So why would the city of Franklin, New Hampshire ask for $75.00 for a copy of their city voter checklist?
