“This Department of Justice has now sued 23 states for failing to provide voter roll data and will continue filing lawsuits to protect American elections,” Bondi said in a press release. “Accurate voter rolls are the foundation of election integrity, and any state that fails to meet this basic obligation of transparency can expect to see us in court.”
The U.S. Department of Justice has filed a lawsuit against Arizona and Connecticut, claiming that the states refused a lawful order to turn over voter information.
According to The Associated Press, officials in Arizona and Connecticut reacted to the lawsuit by pledging to defend their claims in court—and, in at least once instance, suggesting that the Trump administration reconsider its approach.
“Pound sand,” Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes wrote on Twitter.
In his post, Fontes noted that the mass release of voter records would likely violate both state and federal law.
The Justice Department is currently suing a total of 23 states, including Connecticut and Arizona, for failure to comply with new information requests. It has also filed a separate lawsuit against the District of Columbia. In a statement, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said that her department will “continue filing lawsuits to protect American elections,” saying that accurate voter rolls are the “foundation of election integrity.”
“This Department of Justice has now sued 23 states for failing to provide voter roll data and will continue filing lawsuits to protect American elections,” Bondi said in a press release. “Accurate voter rolls are the foundation of election integrity, and any state that fails to meet this basic obligation of transparency can expect to see us in court.”
However, state officials in Arizona, Connecticut, and elsewhere have said that the administration’s requests simply can’t be fulfilled without breaking the law. The Associated Press notes that some of the data demanded by the Justice Department includes full names, dates of birth, home addresses, driver’s license numbers, and partial Social Security numbers.
Connecticut Attorney General William Tong indicated that, while his office has repeatedly tried to clarify the administration’s priorities, the Justice Department has yet to provide any clear basis for its requests.
“Rather than communicating productively with us, they rushed to sue,” Tong said on Tuesday.
Tong said that Connecticut “takes its obligations under federal law very seriously,” adding that his office will “vigorously defend the state against this meritless and deeply disappointing lawsuit.”
Sources
Justice Department Sues Arizona and Connecticut for Failure to Produce Voter Rolls
Justice Department sues Connecticut and Arizona as part of effort to get voter data from the states
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