POLITICS

DOJ Files Lawsuits Seeking States' Voter Registration Files

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Media Bias Meter

Sources: 7

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Sources: 7

60-Second Summary

Washington — The U.S. Department of Justice this week filed federal lawsuits against Georgia, Illinois, Wisconsin and the District of Columbia after officials declined to produce full voter-registration lists requested in July; several states, including Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee, announced voluntary compliance, bringing the number of cooperating jurisdictions to ten. Illinois previously provided a public-version file omitting sensitive identifiers, and Georgia cited state privacy law in a Dec. 8 reply. DOJ cites enforcement authority under NVRA and HAVA and seeks records to evaluate list maintenance. Based on 7 articles reviewed and supporting research.

About this summary

This 60-second summary was prepared by the JQJO editorial team after reviewing 7 original reports from Evanston Now, The News-Gazette, https://www.wrdw.com, wglt.org, https://www.atlantanewsfirst.com, WSMV Nashville and Urban Milwaukee.

Timeline of Events

July: DOJ began requesting full voter-registration lists from multiple states.
August: Illinois provided a public-version file omitting birthdates and ID numbers.
December 8: Georgia Secretary of State replied citing state law prohibitions on full disclosure.
Thursday (reported): DOJ filed lawsuits against Georgia, Illinois, Wisconsin and D.C. for nonproduction.
Same day: Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee announced intent to provide full registration lists, raising compliance to ten jurisdictions.

Media Bias

Articles Published:: 7
Right Leaning:: 0
Left Leaning:: 0
Neutral:: 7

Who Benefited

Federal agencies and investigators gained clearer access to statewide registration data and legal standing to evaluate compliance with federal voter-registration statutes, while states that complied avoided immediate litigation costs and potential court orders.

Who Suffered

Registered voters in jurisdictions asked to supply full files faced increased risk of wider disclosure of personal identifiers, and state election officials confronted legal actions and disputes over interpreting state privacy laws versus federal demands.

Expert Opinion

After reading and researching latest news.... The Justice Department pursued nationwide requests and sued jurisdictions that declined to provide complete voter registration files; several states voluntarily complied. The disputes center on federal enforcement of NVRA and HAVA, state privacy laws, and whether shared datasets meet DOJ's requested fields and identifiers.

Media Bias