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The Department of Justice on Thursday sued five additional states, requesting that their election data be shared with the Trump administration amid its push for access to voter rolls from states across the country.
Four states President Donald Trump carried in the last three presidential elections — Utah, Oklahoma, Kentucky and West Virginia — were slapped with the latest legal action, along with New Jersey.
The DOJ has now sued more than two dozen states in efforts to access election records, with most of the states being controlled by Democrats.
Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon suggested that state election officials were “choosing to fight us in court rather than show their work” with voter roll access.
The Department of Justice on Thursday sued five additional states, requesting that their election data be shared with the Trump administration. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
“We will not be deterred, regardless of party affiliation, from carrying out critical election integrity legal duties,” she said in a statement on Thursday.
“The Justice Department will continue to fulfill its oversight role dutifully, neutrally, and transparently wherever Americans vote in federal elections,” Dhillon said.
The Trump administration has intensified its efforts to take over elections in recent months even though the U.S. Constitution gives states, not federal officials, the authority to run elections. Most states have their secretary of state oversee elections.
Access to election information varies by state, but election officials generally release redacted versions of their voter rolls to the public and government agencies, according to Politico. However, the DOJ has demanded that states give the federal government unredacted files, including voters’ private data such as their driver’s license numbers and the last four digits of their Social Security numbers.
“Accurate, well-maintained voter rolls are a requisite for the election integrity that the American people deserve,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement. “This latest series of litigation underscores that this Department of Justice is fulfilling its duty to ensure transparency, voter roll maintenance, and secure elections across the country.”
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Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon purported that state election officials were “choosing to fight us in court rather than show their work” with voter roll access. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
The DOJ has argued the states are in violation of the Civil Rights Act of 1960, which affirms that the attorney general can request voter records from election officials, but state officials contend that the department is seeking an escalation of the administration’s wider attempts to become involved in state election proceedings.
“Neither state nor federal law entitles the Department of Justice to collect private information on law-abiding American citizens. Utahns can be assured that my office will always follow the Constitution and the law, protect voters’ rights, and administer free and fair elections,” Utah Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson said in a statement to Politico.
Kentucky Secretary of State Michael Adams also criticized the lawsuit, saying the state’s elections were “a national success story.”
“Kentucky law protects voters’ personal information, and I will not voluntarily commit a data breach by providing Kentuckians’ personal data to the federal bureaucracy unless a court order tells me to,” he said in a statement to the outlet.
West Virginia Secretary of State Kris Warner’s office said it had not yet been served with a lawsuit.
“Regardless, I think Secretary Warner’s comments to the DOJ were pretty clear. Bring it on! The federal government is not going to get any personal information on West Virginia voters as long as Kris Warner is Secretary of State,” spokesperson Mike Queen said in a statement to Politico.
State officials argue that the DOJ is seeking an escalation of the Trump administration’s wider attempts to become involved in state election proceedings. (Melissa Sue Gerrits/Getty Images)
Earlier this month, the FBI executed a search warrant at an election office in Fulton County, Georgia, seizing ballots and other voting records from 2020, according to local officials. The Peach State went to former President Joe Biden in 2020, but Trump carried the state in 2024.
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In efforts to ensure only American citizens are voting, Trump has also urged Congress to pass the SAVE America Act, which would require voters in federal elections to prove citizenship by providing a photo ID and other documentation, such as a passport or birth certificate.
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