U.S. Department of Justice Voter Data Lawsuits

The U.S. Department of Justice has brought more than two dozen lawsuits seeking voter data in states nationwide, including statewide voter registration lists with personal data about each registrant.  Find all of those cases here.  

A federal district court in California recently granted the state's motion to dismiss such a lawsuit, finding that the DOJ's request violated federal privacy laws. The court warned: "The Department of Justice seeks to use civil rights legislation which was enacted for an entirely different purpose to amass and retain an unprecedented amount of confidential voter data. This effort goes far beyond what Congress intended when it passed the underlying legislation. The centralization of this information by the federal government would have a chilling effect on voter registration which would inevitably lead to decreasing voter turnout as voters fear that their information is being used for some inappropriate or unlawful purpose. This risk threatens the right to vote which is the cornerstone of American democracy."