West Virginia Seeks Dismissal of DOJ Voter Data Suit Covering 1.2 Million Voters
Updated
Updated · The Inter-Mountain · May 10
West Virginia Seeks Dismissal of DOJ Voter Data Suit Covering 1.2 Million Voters
4 articles · Updated · The Inter-Mountain · May 10
A federal filing Wednesday asked a judge to throw out the Justice Department’s lawsuit seeking unredacted registration records for West Virginia’s nearly 1.2 million voters.
State lawyers argued Title III of the Civil Rights Act does not authorize such a broad demand because DOJ gave no adequate factual basis or purpose and the secretary of state does not directly control county voter-roll records.
West Virginia said it offered redacted voter data on Feb. 11, but DOJ rejected that option; the state also argued unredacted disclosure would violate state law and several federal privacy protections.
The case stems from DOJ letters sent since last summer, part of a push to obtain voter databases from 47 states; 29 states, including West Virginia, have been sued after refusing full access.
The dispute sits inside President Donald Trump’s drive for a federal voter-registration database, though West Virginia says five other federal courts have already dismissed similar DOJ complaints.
When states share voter lists with the federal government, what happens to your private data?
Why is the DOJ appealing after six federal courts have already rejected its demands for voter data?