HUNT VALLEY, Md. (TNND) — Ten Democratic state officials expressed concern last week over the Trump administration’s use of voter data.
The state secretaries of California, Oregon, Washington, Minnesota, Vermont, Colorado, New Mexico, Maine, Nevada and Arizona wrote in a Nov. 18 letter to the U.S. Departments of Justice (DOJ) and Homeland Security (DHS) that they were concerned with how state voter data may be shared. The New York Times reported in September that the DOJ planned on sharing voter information with DHS.
“As Secretaries of State and chief election officials of our respective states, we write to express our immense concern with recent reporting that the Department of Justice (DOJ) has shared voter data with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and to seek clarity on whether DOJ and DHS actively misled election officials regarding the uses of voter data,” the officials wrote.
The DOJ asked each of the secretaries in recent months for a state voter registration list, the officials said. Some of the requests were also for voters’ birthdays, driver’s license numbers and the last four digits of their Social Security numbers, according to the secretaries.
A DOJ spokesperson told The National News Desk (TNND) on Monday that the department’s requests, which came from its civil rights unit, were in line with federal law.
“Enforcing the Nation’s elections laws is a priority in this administration and in the Civil Rights Division. Congress gave the Justice Department authority under the [National Voter Registration Act], [Help America Vote Act], the Civil Rights Act, and other statutes to ensure that states have proper voter registration procedures and programs to maintain clean voter rolls containing only eligible voters in federal elections,” the spokesperson said.
Each of the laws the DOJ referenced have sections on voter registration data, but the state secretaries said the department might have violated a different statute, the Privacy Act of 1974, which concerns the use of Americans’ personal information.
“Transmitting this information to another federal agency raises serious Privacy Act concerns and risks improper dissemination of and access to sensitive voter data,” the officials wrote.
“We are deeply concerned about the inconsistent and misleading information that Secretaries have received from the DOJ and DHS and with the potential lack of compliance with federal law.”
Harmeet Dhillon, head of the DOJ’s civil rights division, told TNND that the unit has a “mandate” to enforce federal voting rights laws and that ensuring trust in election integrity is a top priority for the Trump administration. The president has consistently spread false claims that the 2020 election was rigged in favor of Joe Biden, who won, however.
Have questions, concerns or tips? Send them to Ray at rjlewis@sbgtv.com.