DOJ sues to get access to Utah’s private voter information

SALT LAKE CITY — The U.S. Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against Utah’s lieutenant governor on Thursday, demanding she turn over access to Utahns’ private voter information.

The department’s Civil Rights Division sued Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson in U.S. District Court, alleging she had not complied with a request last year for the state’s complete voter registration list, which includes names, dates of birth, addresses and either driver’s license numbers or the final digits of Social Security numbers.

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Henderson has said she can’t legally share the private information and said the department declined offers from the state to share publicly available voter lists.

“Neither state nor federal law entitles the Department of Justice to collect private information on law-abiding American citizens,” Henderson said in a statement. “Utahns can be assured that my office will always follow the Constitution and the law, protect voters’ rights and administer free and fair elections.”

President Donald Trump’s Department of Justice has previously sought similar voter lists in more than 20 states controlled by Democrats. It filed four additional lawsuits Thursday in Oklahoma, Kentucky, West Virginia and New Jersey.

A lawsuit seeking access to California’s voter records was dismissed by a federal judge last month, who called the request “unprecedented and illegal,” according to NPR. U.S. District Judge David Carter also said the request could have a “chilling effect” on citizens who might choose not to register to vote for fear of how their information will be used.

The Department of Justice, however, argues that the information is needed to ensure states are maintaining their voter rolls in accordance with federal law.

“Accurate, well-maintained voter rolls are a requisite for the election integrity that the American people deserve,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a press release. “This latest series of litigation underscores that this Department of Justice is fulfilling its duty to ensure transparency, voter roll maintenance and secure elections across the country.”

The lawsuit against Henderson was filed by Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon. It alleges that Henderson’s refusal to turn over the entire voter list is a violation of the Civil Rights Act of 1960.

Section 303 of that law requires “any record or paper” required to be retained by election officers “be made available for inspection, reproduction and copying at the principal office of such custodian by the Attorney General.”

“We will not be deterred, regardless of party affiliation, from carrying out critical election integrity legal duties,” Dhillon said in a statement.

The U.S. Constitution tasks states with overseeing their elections, and previous efforts to request personal data during Trump’s first term were met with bipartisan pushback.

Utah Democratic Party Chairman Brian King called the lawsuit “blatant overreach” in a statement.

“The federal government demanding unfettered access to the state’s voter rolls — including sensitive personal data — is not about ‘election integrity,'” he said. “It’s about control and interfering with the midterm election in November.”