Lawsuits say the states have refused to provide data on their voter rolls.
By Catholics for Catholics
The Justice Department filed a lawsuit against six states on Thursday, alleging that they did not act in accordance with federal law by declining to hand in voter registration records.
The lawsuits target New York, New Hampshire, California, Minnesota, Michigan and Pennsylvania. According to The Daily Wire, the Justice Department alleges that the states have not turned over the papers to show that they keep clean and precise voter rolls.
“States are required to safeguard American elections by complying with our federal elections laws,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “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.”
According to the lawsuits, the states have infringed provisions of the National Voter Registration Act and the Help America Vote Act, which conceded the attorney general the power to inspect states’ voter rolls. In addition, the Justice Department wants records that would include a voter’s driver’s license number or the last four digits of their Social Security number.
“Clean voter rolls are the foundation of free and fair elections,” said Attorney General Pam Bondi. “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.”
But Jocelyn Benson, Michigan Democratic Secretary of State, countered the allegations of the lawsuit, saying that state law prohibits her from revealing information that identifies persons to the federal government.
“States can and must hold the line. Only state and local election officials – not the president, the DOJ, or any other federal agency – have the right to people’s private voter information. The people of Michigan have entrusted this department with their personal data, and I will stand up to this illegal and unconstitutional power grab,” she said.
The other defendant states have made similar arguments, objecting to the release of their residents’ identifying information.
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