I searched the site and scrolled through the recent diary list and didn't see this story anywhere, but let me know if it's already been diaried and I'll delete it.
From The Tennessean
Thieves broke in to the Davidson County Election Commission offices over the Christmas holiday and made off with computers containing the names and identifying information of every voter in Nashville.
More...
The missing laptop contained names, addresses, phone numbers and the last four digits of about 337,000 voters' Social Security numbers. It's the same information that candidates buy from the county when they're putting together mailing lists, said county Election Administrator Ray Barrett.
Hrm. Wonder why someone would want to steal the entire list of names and addresses of Davidson County (Metro Nashville) voters? My first thought was caging. There's no evidence of that but that's exactly what I first thought. Davidson County leans blue, so it's not a stretch to think some voter suppression tactics will be in play here.
The election offices are in the old Howard School Building at 800 Second Ave. S., which also houses several other county offices. Barrett said the culprit or culprits also broke into nearby offices, including Metro Water Services. There is no estimate yet of the cost of the damage and stolen equipment, he said.
Another government building near where I work was broken into over the weekend. I don't know what the thieves got away with or thought they were trying to get, but it's a little bit strange to me that there were so many government offices vandalized over the Christmas holiday.
It makes me wonder just how much crap we'll have to put up with from the rethugs in November.
Update [2007-12-28 22:59:53 by rioduran]: Again, from The Tennessean:
The names, addresses and complete Social Security numbers of more than 337,000 Davidson County voters may be in the hands of thieves.
This information could be used by identity thieves. County election officials are warning the public tonight to monitor their credit accounts for any suspicious activity.
Someone broke into several county offices over Christmas and stole laptop computers that county officials now believe may have contained Social Security numbers and other personal information for every registered voter in Davidson County. Election officials originally believed the laptop contained only partial Social Security numbers.
h/t to fiddler crabby