US Justice Department sues 6 states over refusal to share full voter data

ISTANBUL

The US Department of Justice filed lawsuits Thursday against California, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, New Hampshire and Pennsylvania, accusing them of violating federal election laws by refusing to hand over complete statewide voter registration lists.

“Clean voter rolls are the foundation of free and fair elections,” Attorney General Pamela Bondi said in a statement.

“Every state has a responsibility to ensure that voter registration records are accurate, accessible, and secure — states that don’t fulfill that obligation will see this Department of Justice in court,” said Bondi.

The Department of Justice said the six states only provided publicly available voter information and withheld more detailed records, including driver’s license and Social Security data, despite a formal request under the National Voter Registration Act and the Help America Vote Act.

The lawsuits follow US President Donald Trump’s Executive Order No. 14248, issued on March 25, which directs the DOJ to verify voter eligibility and ensure voting systems include “a voter-verifiable paper record to prevent fraud or mistake.”

State officials push back

Pennsylvania Secretary of the Commonwealth Al Schmidt, a Republican, said in an August statement that state law prohibited full compliance.

“This request, and reported efforts to collect broad data on millions of Americans, represent a concerning attempt to expand the federal government’s role in our country’s electoral process,” Schmidt said.

The cases were filed in federal courts in each of the six states.