ST. LOUIS • St. Louis City candidates will not have to go through Brian Wahby, chair of the city's Democratic Central Committee, to get the party voter list, the party director said today.

Wahby is running for Treasurer, one of four who have declared for the August primary, vying to replace long-timer Larry Williams.

But the other candidates were torqued when they learned they had to ask Wahby, as chair, for the party's database of Democratic voters, called the Voter Action Network, or VAN. They felt it gave Wahby an unfair advantage in the race and illuminated a conflict of interest, a charge Wahby vehemently contested.

One of the candidates, Alderman Fred Wessels, wrote a protest letter to the party.

But it seems that the email a party staffer originally sent Wessels left the candidates with a mistaken understanding of the policy.

State party Executive Director Matt Teter said today that access to the VAN is granted at the sole discretion of the state party, echoing an email he sent to Wessels yesterday.

"We seek the advice of the county chairs in local (county/municipal) races as a way (to) manage the hundreds of requests," Teter wrote to Wessels. "County chairs do not have the authority to grant or deny access.

"Under no circumstances will a county chair be allowed to leverage his/her advice to the state party as a way to gain endorsements in a race for elected office," he continued in the email. "Obviously we will be extra sensitive to this issue in St. Louis City during the 2012 election cycle."

Wahby said that's how he always understood it. Wessels said he was satisfied that the process is now fair.