In total, the department has filed lawsuits against 29 states and the District of Columbia over voter roll access.
The federal government has filed lawsuits against five states—Utah, Oklahoma, Kentucky, West Virginia, and New Jersey—accusing local officials of failing to provide full voter registration lists as requested, the Department of Justice (DOJ) said in a Feb. 26 statement.
“The Attorney General is uniquely charged by Congress with broad authority to request election records under the Civil Rights Act of 1960,” the DOJ said. “This Act allows her to demand the production, inspection, and analysis of statewide voter registration lists that can be cross-checked effectively for improper registrations.”
However, the states have failed to produce voter rolls requested by the attorney general, according to the complaints.
The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division has now filed complaints against 29 states and the District of Columbia over the issue.
The lawsuit against Utah argued that the attorney general sent a letter seeking the state’s computerized statewide voter registration list on July 15. The state did provide the information on July 31, but this was the publicly available redacted version of the list.
On Aug. 14, the attorney general sent another letter, demanding that Utah provide a current, unredacted, electronic copy, the lawsuit said.
The state subsequently raised privacy concerns related to the demand for federal election records, and has yet to provide the full list as requested.
Multiple laws require state officials and election officers to maintain and preserve records relating to voter registrations and related actions. The lawsuit accused Utah’s chief election officer of violating the Civil Rights Act, the complaint said.
Similar allegations were made in lawsuits against officials from Oklahoma, Kentucky, West Virginia, and New Jersey.
“Accurate, well-maintained voter rolls are a requisite for the election integrity that the American people deserve,” Attorney General Pamela Bondi said. “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.”
Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Civil Rights Division said that many state election officials are fighting them in court “rather than show their work.”
“We will not be deterred, regardless of party affiliation, from carrying out critical election integrity legal duties,” Dhillon said.
The Epoch Times reached out to officials from the five states for comments and did not receive a response by publication time.
