In a decision last Friday, Judge Mary McElroy of the US District Court of Rhode Island dismissed a suit from the Department of Justice (DOJ) that sought personal voter information from Rhode Island’s Department of State. The DOJ had filed the suit in pursuit of unredacted voter registration details, including Social Security Numbers and driver’s license numbers. Judge McElroy criticized the suit as “a fishing expedition,” highlighting a lack of substantive grounds for the request. More details on the case can be found here.
The DOJ’s request followed a demand issued on September 8, which Rhode Island’s Secretary of State, Gregg Amore, refused. Amore argued that the request did not align with Title III of the Civil Rights Act of 1960, which mandates that access to voter records be tied to investigations involving potential voting rights infringements. Instead of providing the unredacted details, Amore supplied a publicly accessible version of the voter list, omitting sensitive data.
This legal clash is part of a broader series of actions by the DOJ. The department has made similar requests in many other states, asserting that the personal information is necessary for election security purposes. However, Judge McElroy’s ruling emphasized the absence of evidence suggesting Rhode Island’s non-compliance with the National Voter Registration Act and the Help America Vote Act, as argued by the DOJ. Moreover, the DOJ admitted that the information was intended for cross-referencing with the Department of Homeland Security for verifying citizenship status.
McElroy’s decision aligns with rulings in related cases involving California, Oregon, Michigan, and Massachusetts, where the DOJ’s requests have faced legal challenges. The Brennan Center reports at least 12 states have complied with such demands, but the DOJ has taken legal action against 30 states and Washington, D.C., for non-compliance.
Reacting to the dismissal, Secretary of State Amore stated that the decision reinforces the position that the DOJ lacks the legal authority or necessity for accessing sensitive voter data. He affirmed that managing voter lists is a responsibility designated to individual states.