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America Justice Department is suing four more states as part of its effort to collect detailed voting data and other election information across the country.
Department files federal lawsuits against Colorado, Hawaii, Massachusetts And nevada Thursday for “failing to produce a statewide voter registration list upon request.” So far, cases have been filed against 18 states Fulton County In Georgia, which was sued for records related to the 2020 election.
The Trump administration has described the lawsuits as part of an effort to ensure election security, and the Justice Department says states are violating federal law by refusing to provide voter rolls and information about ineligible voters. The lawsuits have raised concerns among some Democratic officials and others, who question how the data will be used, and whether the department will follow privacy laws to protect the information. Some of the data sought includes name, date of birth, residential address, driver’s license number and partial Social Security number.
Assistant Attorney General of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division Harmeet K. “States have a statutory duty to protect and defend their voters against voter dilution,” Dhillon said in a press release. “In this Justice Department, we will not allow states to jeopardize the integrity and effectiveness of elections by refusing to follow our federal election laws. If states do not meet their duty to protect the integrity of the ballot, we will.”
Colorado Secretary of State Jenna Griswold, a Democrat, said her office declined to provide unpublished voter data.
“We will not hand over sensitive voting information of Coloradoans donald trump“They do not have a legal right to the information,” Griswold said Thursday after the lawsuit was filed, “I will continue to defend our elections and democracy and look forward to winning this case,”
In a Sept. 22 letter to the Justice Department, Hawaii Deputy Solicitor General Thomas Hughes said state law requires that all personal information required on a voter registration district other than a voter’s full name, voting district or precinct, and voter status must be kept confidential. Hughes also said that the federal law cited by the Justice Department does not require states to hand over electronic registration lists, nor does it require states to hand over “specific or highly sensitive personal information” about voters.
An Associated Press tally found that the Justice Department has asked for voter registration rolls from at least 26 states in recent months, and in many cases has asked states for information on how they maintain their voter rolls. Other states sued by the Justice Department include California, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, New Mexico, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington.
The bipartisan Wisconsin Elections Commission voted 5-1 Thursday against turning over unredacted voter information to the Trump administration. The only dissenter was Republican Commissioner Robert Spindell, who warned that denying the request would lead to a lawsuit. But other commissioners said it would be illegal under Wisconsin law to provide voter list information that includes voters’ full names, dates of birth, residential addresses and driver’s license numbers.
_____ Associated Press reporter Scott Bauer contributed from Madison, Wisconsin.