Federal Overreach - Voter Roll Edition

[DaisyDay]

DOJ Sues Georgia, Illinois, Wisconsin and DC, Expanding Campaign of Voter Data Lawsuits to 22

Read more here.

www.democracydocket.com

The federal government has now filed lawsuits against 21 states, plus D.C., demanding registrants’ unredacted private information — including driver license numbers, social security numbers and dates of birth — in a campaign decried by local officials and legal experts as an unconstitutional attack on states’ authority to run elections and an illegal attempt to create an unprecedented national voter database.

Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon heralded the lawsuit against Georgia in recent interviews, complaining that Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R) had told her to “pound sand” in response to her voter data demands.

...In refusing the DOJ’s demands, states say the agency lacks the authority to compel production of the data and has failed to ensure compliance with federal and state privacy laws.

Dhillon has promised to sue every state that does not comply with the DOJ’s demands.

The complaint filed by the DOJ in D.C. included drafting comments from voting section trial attorney Brittany E. Bennett, who represented the Georgia GOP in a failed lawsuit that sought to ban the state from using Dominion voting machines.

Justice Department Sues Four States for Failure to Produce Voter Rolls

www.justice.gov

Today, the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division announced it has filed federal lawsuits against four jurisdictions — District of Columbia, Georgia, Illinois, and Wisconsin — for failure to produce their full voter registration lists upon request. This brings the Justice Department’s nationwide total to 22. In addition, three states — Louisiana, Mississippi, and Tennessee — today announced to the Justice Department their intent to voluntarily provide their full registration lists, pursuant to the Department's request. This brings the number of states that are either in full compliance or in the process of compliance to 10.

“The law is clear: states need to give us this information, so we can do our duty to protect American citizens from vote dilution,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “Today’s filings show that regardless of which party is in charge of a particular state, the Department of Justice will firmly stand on the side of election integrity and transparency.”

According to the lawsuits, the Attorney General is uniquely charged by Congress with the enforcement of the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) and the Help America Vote Act (HAVA), which were designed by Congress to ensure that states have proper and effective voter registration and voter list maintenance programs. The Attorney General also has the Civil Rights Act of 1960 (CRA) at her disposal to demand the production, inspection, and analysis of the statewide voter registration lists.
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[DaisyDay]

DoJ filing:

https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/72055344/1/united-states-v-evans/

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[Oompa Loompa]

including driver license numbers, social security numbers and dates of birth

All required to provide to law enforcement when requested. How dare anybody request such information to validate a person's right to vote.

 

[comana]

All required to provide to law enforcement when requested. How dare anybody request such information to validate a person's right to vote.

Then why not all 50 states?

 

[Oompa Loompa]

Then why not all 50 states?

Yes, why not? Answer: Democrats. Because according to them, we black folk are too dumb and underprivileged to be able to get an ID card. So requesting such information is RRRAAACCISTTT!

 

[camille70]

If Biden or Obama had requested this, conservatives would be up in arms.

I don't agree with granting powers or giving passes for actions that would be problematic with different leadership in place.

They have said the info could end up in the hands of third party contractors, so this is an extremely bad idea.

 

[DaisyDay]

Trump’s DOJ offers states confidential deal to remove voters flagged by feds • Stateline

The U.S. Department of Justice has sent confidential draft agreements on voter data sharing to more than a dozen states, part of the Trump administration’s effort to obtain unredacted voter rolls, with one of its attorneys saying 11 states have shown a "willingness to comply."

stateline.org

The administration’s lawsuits mostly target Democratic states, where election officials refused initial requests for voter data and allege the demand is unlawful and risks the privacy of millions of voters. They have also voiced fears that the Trump administration could use the information to target its political enemies....

“What the DOJ is trying to do is something that should frighten everybody across the political spectrum,” said David Becker, executive director of the nonpartisan Center for Election Innovation & Research. “They’re trying to use the power of the executive branch to bully states into turning over highly sensitive data: date of birth, Social Security number, driver’s license — the holy trinity of identity theft.”

Becker, who worked as a senior trial attorney in the Justice Department’s Voting Section during the Clinton and George W. Bush administrations, told reporters on Dec. 8 that several states received the memorandum....

The draft memorandum of understanding, which is labeled “confidential,” outlines the terms of the proposed agreement between each state and the Justice Department. After a state provides its voter roll, the federal department would agree to test, analyze and assess the information. The department would then notify states of “any voter list maintenance issues, insufficiencies, inadequacies, deficiencies, anomalies, or concerns” found.


Each state would agree to “clean” its voter roll within 45 days by removing any ineligible voters, according to the memorandum. States would then resubmit their voter data to the Justice Department for verification.

While the Justice Department has demanded states’ voter rolls since this summer, the memorandum of understanding offers the most detailed picture to date of how the Trump administration plans to use the data.

Above is from the link. CF not allowing indention.

 

[DaisyDay]

All required to provide to law enforcement when requested.

Not without reasonable articulable suspicion. Law enforcement, in most states, can't just demand that from random people on the street.

How dare anybody request such information to validate a person's right to vote.

That is not the problem here - it's that the federal government - which does NOT control state election laws - is demanding this information to give the Department of Homeland Security.