Washington — President Trump’s administration has stepped up efforts in nearly all 50 states to obtain complete voter rolls containing sensitive information about each state’s registered voters.
The Justice Department believes the information is needed to ensure states comply with two federal voting laws, the Help America Vote Act and the National Voter Registration Act, which are designed to ensure states have appropriate plans in place to maintain accurate voter rolls.
Last year, the administration sent letters to most states seeking unredacted electronic copies of statewide voter registration lists, which include voters’ birth dates, addresses, partial Social Security numbers and driver’s license numbers.
Many states have turned over public versions of their electoral rolls but declined to provide full lists. In response, the Justice Department has filed lawsuits against 30 states and the District of Columbia to force them to turn over voter data.
So far, the Trump administration has lost 27 of these cases. Federal judge dismisses Justice Department lawsuit over unredacted voter rolls:
A federal judge dismissed the Justice Department’s initial case against Georgia because it was filed in the wrong court, and government lawyers later refiled the case. The Justice Department voluntarily dismissed a lawsuit against Oklahoma after the state agreed to turn over its voter registration lists.
Other cases are still pending. These areas are located in Delaware, Hawaii, and Idaho.
The Justice Department has appealed most decisions dismissing its cases. So far, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit has upheld a lower court ruling rejecting the government’s attempt to obtain Michigan’s voter rolls.
The Trump administration is seeking to obtain state unredacted voter registration lists as part of the president’s effort to exert more power over federal elections. Trump signed two executive orders targeting the US election, but both were blocked by the courts.
The first executive order signed last year would Proof of citizenship required to register to vote. The second one was announced in March, Tightening rules for postal voting and requires the Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Postal Service to compile and maintain lists of U.S. citizens eligible to vote.
Trump also urged Congress to enact a set of voting regulations called the Save America Act that would significantly reduce mail-in voting and impose new voter ID requirements.
The president has long targeted mail-in voting and claimed it would lead to widespread fraud, although he has provided no evidence to support those claims. He also claimed that Democratic states allow non-citizens to vote in U.S. elections. It is a federal crime for noncitizens to vote.