In August, security personnel maintain a vigil in front of the headquarters of the United States Department of Justice in Washington. The Justice Department on Tuesday sued six more states over unredacted copies of voter rolls. (Photo: Jonathan Shorman/Stateline)
The U.S. Department of Justice on Tuesday expanded its legal campaign to force states to turn over voter rolls containing sensitive personal information, suing six more states that refused to share the data.
The Department of Justice is currently suing officials in more than a dozen states over voter rolls, following: first round of trials submitted in September. The lawsuits mainly target Democratic states that do not turn over unredacted copies of the lists, which include driver’s licenses and partial Social Security numbers.
The Trump administration has been demanding for months that states provide copies of their voter rolls, calling them information necessary to ensure election integrity. While some states have provided lists containing sensitive personal information, most have refused to provide all of the information on their lists.
Democratic election officials have raised privacy concerns about the Trump administration’s data apply plan. They are particularly concerned that the Justice Department will share data with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which is building a a powerful citizenship verification tool. The Trump administration previously confirmed to Stateline that it plans to release the data.
The Department of Justice announced in a press release that the novel wave of lawsuits is targeting Delaware, Maryland, New Mexico, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington. The department has already sued California, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New York, Oregon and Pennsylvania.
(*6*) – U.S. Attorney General Pamela Bondi – wrote in the press release on Tuesday. “The Department of Justice will continue to pursue proactive election integrity litigation until states comply with basic election protections.”
Rhode Island Secretary of State Gregg Amore offered the Department of Justice a free copy of his state’s publicly available voter list in September. The information is typically made available upon request for a fee of $25, but the entity refused to provide sensitive personal information absent legal action.
“This lawsuit, like those filed in other states, continues the current presidential administration’s unconstitutional attempts to interfere in electoral processes across the country,” he added. Amore said in a statement on Tuesday. “One of my most important responsibilities as the state’s chief election official is to protect the data privacy of Rhode Islanders who trust us with their personal information when registering to vote. I will continue to fight to protect it.”
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to clarify states that were previously sued by the Department of Justice. Rhode Island reporters Nancy Lavin and Christopher Shea contributed reporting. State reporter Jonathan Shorman you can arrive at jshorman@stateline.org.
This story was originally produced by state linewhich is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network that includes the Ohio Capital Journal and is supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity.
