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U.S. District Judge Susan Brnovich, a Trump appointee, wrote
that Arizona's statewide voter registration list is “not a
document subject to request by the Attorney General" under
federal law. The judge dismissed the lawsuit with prejudice
because, she wrote, “amendment would be legally futile.”
The dismissal of the Arizona lawsuit follows a string of other
rulings against the Department of Justice in similar cases in
other states. The DOJ has sued at least 30 states and the
District of Columbia seeking to force release of detailed voter
data, which includes dates of birth, addresses, driver’s license
numbers and partial Social Security numbers.
In addition to Arizona, judges have rejected those attempts in
Rhode Island, California, Massachusetts, Michigan and Oregon. In
Georgia, a judge dismissed a DOJ lawsuit because it had been
filed in the wrong city, prompting the government to refile
elsewhere.
The DOJ sued Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes in January
for failing to comply with its request for the detailed voter
information.
“This moment is a win for voter privacy,” Fontes said in a
statement. “I will never comply with illegal requests that put
Arizona voters in harms way.”
The Department of Justice did not immediately respond to a
request for comment.
At least 13 states have either provided or promised to provide
their detailed voter registration lists to the department,
according to the Brennan Center and Associated Press reporting:
Alaska, Arkansas, Indiana, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nebraska,
Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas
and Wyoming.
Federal officials say they need the voter data to ensure that
states are complying with federal election laws related to
maintaining voter registration lists. In the Rhode Island case,
a Justice Department attorney acknowledged that the department
was seeking unredacted voter roll information so it could be
shared with the Department of Homeland Security to check
citizenship status.
Democratic and some Republican officials have objected to the
requests and said such a demand violates state and federal
privacy laws.
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