Corrupt or intimidated medical examiners have been known to decree suicides even though the corpses in question have had several slugs in the back. Furthermore, there are legitimate statistical uses for those death certificates, such as revealing an inordinate number of cancer deaths in a given area. Tucsonans know from first-hand experience that a corporation might want to conceal evidence that it has helped boost cancer rates. In today's courtrooms, such cases are often sealed, denying others access to key testimony. And today's voter records are only partially open.
Much information is restricted in an effort to protect people from possible abuses.
While such precautions may hinder the rare stalker, it's a situation that practically invites widespread vote fraud. The trend toward privacy is admirable, but there's no real privacy when the state holds the records and others are not able to verify them. And much of the motivation to further restrict public access comes not from an altruistic bureaucracy wishing to guard citizens from unwanted intrusions, but from the lazy bureaucrat's simple-minded desire to monopolize data and lessen his workload. Filling information requests is often time consuming. A spy for The Skinny was among the 6,000 folks who showed up to see Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich on his recent visit to Phoenix.