The Justice Department has given Minnesota officials 15 days to turn over voter registration records, escalating a nationwide legal campaign over access to election data.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
The Department of Justice has formally demanded that Minnesota turn over voter registration records tied to recent federal elections, according to a letter sent Friday to the state’s top elections official and reported by KTTC, a television station in Rochester, Minnesota.
In the letter, Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon instructed Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon to produce records related to voter registration practices covering all federal elections held within the previous 22 months. The request specifically includes the March 5, 2024, primary election and the Nov. 5, 2024, general election.
“This request is for all federal elections held within the previous 22 months from the date of receipt of this letter,” Dhillon wrote, adding that the state has 15 days to comply.
The demand is part of a broader legal strategy by the Trump administration, which has sued 21 states seeking access to voter data. Those states include California, Colorado, Delaware, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin.
Federal officials have described the lawsuits as an effort to enforce election integrity laws, arguing that states are violating federal requirements by refusing to provide voter lists and information related to ineligible voters. The Justice Department has said the data is necessary to prevent vote dilution and ensure compliance with federal election statutes.
The lawsuits have drawn criticism from Democratic officials and voting rights advocates, who have raised concerns about privacy and how the information could be used. According to court filings, some of the requested data includes voters’ names, dates of birth, residential addresses, driver’s license numbers, and partial Social Security numbers.
“States have the statutory duty to preserve and protect their constituents from vote dilution,” Dhillon said in a Justice Department press release. “At this Department of Justice, we will not permit states to jeopardize the integrity and effectiveness of elections by refusing to abide by our federal election laws. If states will not fulfill their duty to protect the integrity of the ballot, we will.”
Minnesota officials have pushed back. Simon last week moved to dismiss the lawsuit, calling the federal request a “fishing expedition” involving highly sensitive personal information.
“Congress did not authorize this type of fishing expedition; rather, it expressly directed states to prevent unauthorized access to statewide voter registration lists,” a legal brief accompanying Simon’s motion to dismiss stated.
The dispute places Minnesota among a growing number of states locked in legal battles with the Justice Department as the administration of Donald Trump presses forward with aggressive efforts to obtain voter data nationwide.
Original article
Comments