Election/Election Integrity

Trump Admin Sues Six States For Voter Registration Lists: ‘Compliance With The Law’

Gage Skidmore/Creative Commons/Flickr

The Trump administration sued six different states on Thursday for allegedly failing to provide voter registration data upon demand.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) filed lawsuits against California, Minnesota, Michigan, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania and New York for alleged failures to turn over statewide voter registration lists, according to a press release from the agency. The lawsuits mark the Trump administration’s latest hardline measure to shore up election integrity across the country.

“Clean voter rolls are the foundation of free and fair elections,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a public statement.

“Every state has a responsibility to ensure that voter registration records are accurate, accessible, and secure — states that don’t fulfill that obligation will see this Department of Justice in court,” Bondi continued.

The lawsuits largely target Democratic elected officials, such as the secretaries of state in California, Minnesota, Michigan and members of the New York State Board of Elections. The Republican secretaries of state in New Hampshire and Pennsylvania were also slapped with litigation.

By law, states are mandated to have effective voter registration and voter list maintenance programs, according to the DOJ. While the details on each lawsuit differ, the overall issue revolves around compliance with the National Voter Registration Act, the Help America Vote Act and the Civil Rights Act of 1960 — all of which pertain to voting regulations.

The six states are refusing to hand over voter registration lists with complete information and are not sufficiently responding to questions about the measures they undertake to maintain voter rolls, according to the lawsuits.

“States are required to safeguard American elections by complying with our federal elections laws,” Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon of the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division said in a public statement. “Clean voter rolls protect American citizens from voting fraud and abuse, and restore their confidence that their states’ elections are conducted properly, with integrity, and in compliance with the law.”

These are far from the first lawsuits the Trump administration has waged over election integrity.

Earlier this month, the DOJ sued Oregon and Maine for also allegedly failing to hand over voter registration rolls and federal prosecutors are waging another lawsuit against Orange County, California.  The Trump administration this month dropped a lawsuit against the North Carolina State Board of Election upon being satisfied with the board’s progress on removing names from voter registration lists that lack sufficient information.

In March, President Donald Trump signed the “Preserving and Protecting the Integrity of American Elections,” a proclamation that seeks to keep elections in compliance with federal laws that protect against illegal voting, discrimination and other forms of fraud. In May, the Trump administration rolled out a new feature for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services which allows state and local officials to input Social Security numbers for verification of U.S. citizenship, helping prevent foreign nationals from participating in federal elections.