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Pima County will have to turn over electronic database records from past elections to the Pima County Democratic Party, a judge ruled Tuesday.

The county must release records requested a year ago, including copies of the Diebold GEMS databases for the 2006 primary and general elections, because they fall under state public-records law, Pima County Superior Judge Michael Miller said. That means the Democratic Party will have a chance to inspect the records for transparency and security.

Without the records, the party cannot fully monitor elections, a job political parties are required by statute to do, Miller wrote in his ruling. That outweighs the risks associated with making the records public, he wrote.

The party requested the records to fulfill its duty of election monitoring, said the party's attorney Bill Risner.

The Pima County Democratic Party sued the county this year for the electronic databases from past elections. The party requested the databases and passwords be released according to Arizona public-records law. Pima County denied that part of the request, while turning over other records the party asked for.

In closing arguments of the four-day trial that began Dec. 4, Pima County argued the databases meet the definition of a computer program, which is protected by state law, said Deputy County Attorney Thomas Denker.

Releasing the databases could pose the risk of security flaws in future elections, Denker said. People could hack into the system and change the vote numbers or create fake ballots and submit them on election day, he said. There are also unknown risks associated with releasing the databases and associated passwords, he said.

"There is a significant risk these systems could be hacked or discredited," Denker said.

The county was also concerned releasing the passwords for the databases would more easily allow someone to manipulate the results and claim different results than the county had on record, he said. There's also no evidence the records requested would allow someone to discover fraud in an election, Denker said.

The county supervisors will likely meet in a closed-door session at the next scheduled meeting on Jan. 8 to decide whether to release the records or appeal the ruling, said Chris Straub, chief civil deputy Pima County attorney.

He emphasized there was no wrongdoing found on behalf of county elections employees.

During the trial Risner said the case was about the freedoms Americans have, including the ability to change the course of the system by voting.

"You get a cold sweat and think what if our vote was taken from us and then you think what if our vote has been taken from us?" Risner said.

He said the records should be released so the party can carry out its duty of monitoring elections to ensure they are transparent and secure.

While the county cited security issues as a reason the records should not be released, Risner said that's the exact reason they should be released.

"Our political party wants to carry out its role of ensuring our votes' accuracy," he said.

Allowing political parties access to these databases would allow confirmation of vote counts and could lead to a better, more secure system in the the future, he said during the trial.

He said the ruling, which releases the databases for the primary and general elections in 2006, will allow the party to fully monitor elections.

"No one is looking to see what goes on, and it's our role. We want to, and we're going to do it," Risner said.