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The Trump administration's lawsuit, filed last year, contended
that California and other states were illegally blocking the
federal government's wide-ranging effort to scrutinize detailed
voter data that states said was private and protected.
The administration “may not unilaterally usurp the authority
over elections” U.S. District Judge David O. Carter in Santa Ana
said in his 33-page decision.
Furthermore, the attempt to gather and centralize the personal
information would have a chilling effect on voter registration
and threaten “the right to vote which is the cornerstone of
American democracy,” the judge ruled.
“There cannot be unbridled consolidation of all elections power
in the executive (branch) without action from Congress,” Carter
said. “This is antithetical to the promise of fair and free
elections.”
The Justice Department did not immediately respond to an emailed
request for comment.
It has accused states of failing to respond sufficiently to
questions about the procedures they take to maintain voter
rolls. The department has sued 23 states, most of them
controlled by Democrats, and the District of Columbia for
detailed voter data that includes names, dates of birth,
residential addresses, driver’s license numbers and partial
Social Security numbers.
State election officials have questioned what the DOJ plans to
do with that information. Last fall 10 Democratic secretaries of
state wrote Attorney General Pam Bondi and Homeland Security
Secretary Kristi Noem to express concern over reports that the
DOJ was sharing state voter data with the Department of Homeland
Security.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, which is part of DHS,
operates a program that checks citizenship status.
California Secretary of State Shirley Weber, the state's chief
elections officer, said in a statement that California would
“continue to challenge this administration’s disregard for the
rule of law and our right to vote.”
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