The U.S. Department of Justice, under the Trump Administration, has filed lawsuits against five additional states, Utah, Oklahoma, Kentucky, West Virginia, and New Jersey, taking to the courts over their failure to provide full, unredacted voter registration lists that the administration can use to crack down on fraud.
This brings the total to over two dozen states sued nationwide, citing the Civil Rights Act of 1960 for access to voter data, including private details such as driver’s license numbers and partial Social Security numbers. Officials like AG Pam Bondi and AAG Harmeet Dhillon emphasize election integrity and transparency.
Starting of her comments, Assistant AG Harmeet Dhilon declared, “Exciting election law news here at the DOJ Civil Rights Division today, we sued five additional states for their refusal to turn over voter rolls in response to the Attorney General’s request under the Civil Rights Act of 1960 specifically, we sued West Virginia, Utah, Oklahoma, Kentucky and New Jersey.”
“This brings to almost 30 states that we are suing, in addition to the District of Columbia, and we will not rest until we have resolved this litigation throughout the United States. Now, speaking of which, we have had a couple of adverse rulings in different courts, so we disagree with them,” she said to add more context.
Still not done, Dhilon stated, “There’s been a hodgepodge of issues that plaintiff’s lawyers have thrown up against the wall. So we have filed our notices of appeal promptly in the Ninth Circuit in the cases in Oregon and California, and we have also filed a challenge and appeal in the Sixth Circuit against a recent Michigan ruling.”
“We’re going to take those up on appeal with the help of our colleagues in the Solicitor General’s office, and we will report to you what happens with the resolution there. And now, finally, I’m really proud of an amicus brief that we co-authored with the Solicitor General’s office in a case before the Supreme Court that is Watson versus Republican National Committee,” the Assistant AG asserted.
“In which we, the United States, argue that state statutes that allow ballots to continue to trickle in and be counted well after the election day are preempted by the federal law regarding Election Day,” she explained in her video statement.
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Concluding her comments, she noted, “It would be great to have certainty around our elections like just about every other civilized country and even some less civilized countries have, and so every day, we are thinking of ways here at the Civil Rights Division to improve voter confidence in the outcome of our elections and ensure that only American citizens vote in federal elections and only one time, and that we get those results promptly and that we can count on them.”
Watch the clip here:
Adding another view, Attorney General Pam Bondi said, “Accurate, well-maintained voter rolls are a requisite for the election integrity that the American people deserve. 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.”
Featured image from embedded video