A federal judge threw out the Department of Justice’s attempt to force Arizona to turn over its voter rolls to the Trump administration.
The Department of Justice has sued more than two dozen states that rejected requests for sensitive voter data that the DOJ planned to share with the Department of Homeland Security, which operates the controversial SAVE citizenship verification database.
Attorneys with the Justice Department argued it has the authority to obtain that voter information under federal law as it seeks to ensure states are properly maintaining their voter rolls.
That law requires state election officers to maintain certain documents from federal elections, such as races for president or Congress, for 22 months. That includes “all records and papers which come into his possession relating to any application, registration, payment of poll tax, or other act requisite to voting in such election,” according to the law.
It also gives the attorney general the power to demand state officials turn over those records.
But U.S. District Court Judge Susan Brnovich, who was nominated to the bench by President Donald Trump in 2018, found that the exact information sought by the Justice Department — including Social Security numbers — goes beyond the records covered by that law.
“Accordingly, based on the plain meaning of the text of (the federal law), Arizona’s (statewide voter registration list) is not a document subject to request by the Attorney General,” she wrote.
Other federal judges have already dismissed similar lawsuits against California, Massachusetts, Michigan, Oregon and Rhode Island.
Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes conceded that some of the voter information sought by the Justice Department is public record. But he argued some data, like Social Security numbers, is protected by state and federal privacy laws.
He echoed that claim in a joint statement with Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes, whose office defended the Secretary of State in court.
“That database contains the sensitive personal information of millions of Arizona voters — home addresses, dates of birth, and Social Security and driver's license numbers,” Fontes and Mayes, both Democrats, said. “But the court was clear: Title III of the Civil Rights Act does not authorize this demand. This is now the sixth federal court to reach the same conclusion.”
Fontes previously said he would go to jail before turning that information over to the Department of Justice.
“I will never comply with illegal requests that put Arizona voters in harm’s way,” he said in a statement to KJZZ. “I was charged with protecting the personal identifying information of every Arizona voter and will not waver in the face of threats. I want to thank my legal team and Attorney General Mayes and her staff for stepping up and winning this moment for Arizona voters.”
The Department of Justice did not respond to a request to comment about whether it plans to appeal the ruling.
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