At the University of Wisconsin at Madison, registered student organizations can request the information at a rate of $35 per hour, while third parties must pay $90 per hour. The effect: Student organizations are formed on the campus to support a candidate, and those groups request the information.
“Every election year we get some requests,” says Marilyn N. McIntyre, manager of information services in the registrar’s office at Madison. Most political campaigns request students’ e-mail addresses, she notes, since that is a cheap way to reach them.