The Trump administration has filed a lawsuit against New Jersey after state officials refused to provide private voter information, including addresses, driver’s license numbers, birth dates, and Social Security numbers.
According to The New Jersey Monitor, the lawsuit represents the latest escalation in the administration’s continued efforts to obtain state-level voter information. The federal government has filed multiple lawsuits against multiple states—many of which have already been dismissed or otherwise rejected by district courts.
“The Justice Department will continue to fulfill its oversight role dutifully, neutrally, and transparently wherever Americans vote in federal elections,” Assistant U.S. Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon said.
Dhillon, notes the Monitor, previously served as one of Trump’s legal advisors—and played an active role in the president’s attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 general election.
New Jersey officials say they’ve already rejected several requests to divulge voter data, and will reject this one, too.
“As several courts have already held, the Department of Justice’s request for voters’ personal information, including their drivers’ license numbers and social security numbers is baseless. We are committed to protecting the privacy of our state’s residents and we will defend against this lawsuit in court,” New Jersey Attorney General Jen Davenport said in a statement.
Civil rights groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union, have characterized the administration’s requests as a “serious privacy threat.”
“Demanding sensitive voter information presents serious privacy threats for New Jersey’s voters and could be used to justify challenges and purges to disenfranchise voters. Elections, and thus voter information, are administered by states, and the Trump administration’s attempt to obtain New Jersey’s full, unredacted voter file is an unconstitutional and unlawful overreach and a brazen abuse of power,” said ACLU-New Jersey executive director Amol Sinha.
Aside from New Jersey, the Trump administration filed similar lawsuits against four other states: Utah, Oklahoma, West Virginia, and Kentucky. Of these states, three—excluding Kentucky—are currently run by Republicans.
Last month, in February, a Trump-appointed district court judge discarded a nearly-identical lawsuit against the state of Michigan. In that case, Judge Hala Jarbou found that the federal statutes cited by the U.S. Department of Justice “do now allow the United States to obtain the records at issue.” Jarbou further noted that there appeared to be “no basis” to the administration’s demands.
Sources
Federal judge dismisses Trump administration attempt to access Michigan voter rolls
Justice Department Sues 5 States, Most Republican-Led, for Voter Data
Trump administration sues New Jersey for voters’ private information
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