Voting Rights Groups Sue DOJ Over Voter Rolls Collection

Voting rights groups filed a lawsuit on April 21, seeking to block the Department of Justice from collecting, compiling, and analyzing state voter registration lists. U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia by advocacy group Common Cause and four individual members of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.

As of April 1, the Department of Justice has sued 30 states, including Washington, for failing to turn over voter rolls. U.S. attorney general has congressional authority under the Civil Rights Act of 1960 to seek election records from states to check for improper voter registrations.

The data requested by the Department of Justice includes voters’ Social Security numbers, driver’s license numbers, dates of birth, home addresses, political party affiliations, and voter participation history. The groups are seeking a court order requiring the Department of Justice to delete any voter rolls it has obtained from states and to bar the department from compiling or disclosing voter data.

An assistant attorney general of the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division said that the department has a duty to ensure state compliance with election laws.

“The Justice Department will continue to fulfill its oversight role dutifully, neutrally, and transparently wherever Americans vote in federal elections,” the assistant attorney general said in a statement. “Many state election officials, however, are choosing to fight us in court rather than show their work.

” In an April 21 statement, Common Cause CEO Virginia Kase Solomon said the Department of Justice’s efforts to collect voter rolls amount to a blatant, partisan power grab.

“By attempting to interrogate and exploit voter data for political purposes, President Trump’s DOJ isn’t just threatening the privacy of every American—they are building a system designed to imprison the ballot box and silence millions of eligible voters,” Solomon said.