The Department of Justice (DOJ) sued six states on Thursday, including California and New York, for not providing sensitive, private voter data the department asked for.
“Clean voter rolls are the foundation of free and fair elections. 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,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement.
Apart from New York and California, the DOJ sued Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire and Pennsylvania. All of the lawsuits were filed in federal courts.
The DOJ’s announcement came hours before former FBI Director James Comey was indicted by a federal grand jury, as President Trump ramps up public pressure on Bondi and others in the department to go after his political rivals.
The DOJ is asking state election officials to turn over voter information housed within registration rolls, which can include birth dates, names, partial Social Security numbers and driver’s license numbers. The department has said that states are in violation of federal law if they do not send over all of the voter information.
“We have been very clear with the DOJ about our position that state and federal law do not allow our office to provide them with private voter data unless they provide information about how the information will be used and secured,” Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon (D) said in a statement on Thursday. “Since the conversation began with the DOJ in June, our office has met every deadline and provided detailed responses to all questions about the processes that keep our elections secure.”
Simon said that his office asked for “additional assurances” that the personal information of Minnesotans would be protected.
“The DOJ remained silent – providing no information about how the data would be protected or used,” he said. “Instead, they chose to file a lawsuit.”
Earlier this month, the DOJ sued Maine and Oregon in a similar effort, saying the two states did not turn over their voter registration lists.
The DOJ has asked at least 26 states for voter registration rolls and in some cases how they are maintained in recent months, according to a tally by The Associated Press.
“Clean voter rolls protect American citizens from voting fraud and abuse, and restore their confidence that their states’ elections are conducted properly, with integrity, and in compliance with the law,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon, the head of DOJ’s Civil Rights Division.
