Voting rights groups asked a federal court Tuesday to shut down the Justice Department’s attempt to build a nationwide database of voter registration lists, saying it’s part of an illegal bid to inject the federal government into the way states run their elections.
Led by Common Cause, the lawsuit says the Trump administration is going too far in its quest to clean up bloated voter rolls and could end up causing states to boot valid voters from their lists.
“President Trump’s DOJ isn’t just threatening the privacy of every American — they are building a system designed to imprison the ballot box and silence millions of eligible voters,” said Virginia Kase Solomon, CEO of Common Cause.
The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Washington, is the latest in an escalation among the Justice Department, states and liberal-leaning voter groups.
Trump officials say too many noncitizens, dead voters and people who moved away litter states’ and localities’ voter lists. Each of those names as in invitation to commit fraud, particularly with the proliferation of mail-in voting, with live ballots sent out to addresses.
The Justice Department has sought to force a cleanup.
It has demanded voter lists from states and the District of Columbia and, where it hasn’t gotten cooperation, it has sued.
The goal, the department has hinted in court, is to build a database of names and identifying information — partial Social Security numbers and birthdates — it can run to spot duplicates, or check against Homeland Security’s databases to notice noncitizens.
Voting groups, though, called DHS’ database, the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements, or SAVE, system “faulty” and said the government’s comparison methodology is “flawed,” snaring U.S. citizens and identifying them as noncitizens.
“No federal statute authorizes DOJ’s sprawling new voter surveillance, data consolidation, and purging operation,” the lawsuit said.
The Washington Times has sought comment from the Justice Department.
The new lawsuit said DOJ’s centralized database would become a major target for hackers.
The department has struggled in its push to get states to turn over voter lists.
Most states have resisted, and the DOJ has filed lawsuits to force compliance. Five of those cases have resulted in judicial rulings in federal district court, with the Trump administration losing each of them.
But some GOP-led states have cooperated. The new lawsuit says those collaborators are Alaska, Arkansas, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas and Wyoming.
The administration has also been bringing federal criminal cases against noncitizens who managed to register and cast ballots in elections.
The most recent case came late last month with charges against an illegal immigrant from Mexico who authorities said used a stolen identity to live, work, travel — and vote — in the U.S.
