Judge dismisses DOJ lawsuit demanding Arizona voter rolls
A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit brought by the Department of Justice that sought Arizona’s voter registration rolls.
U.S. District Judge Susan Brnovich said that the federal government isn’t entitled to Arizona’s statewide voter registration list under Title III of the Civil Rights Act of 1960.
“This case presents a legal question: is the Attorney General entitled to the SVRL under Title III,” Brnovich wrote. “It does not present a political question: should the Attorney General be entitled to the SVRL.”
Last summer, the Justice Department told Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes to turn over the voter registration records, saying it was checking the state’s compliance with the National Voter Registration Act and Help America Vote Act. The department later said that it specifically wanted the full names, dates of birth, home addresses and either their driver’s license numbers or partial Social Security numbers of all registered voters.
Fontes refused to turn over the documents and cited state and federal privacy laws. The Justice Department filed a lawsuit in January.
The suit said that the Civil Rights Act of 1960 gave election officials the right to retain and preserve election records and granted then-Attorney General Pam Bondi, “sweeping power to obtain these records.”
Fontes and Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes released a joint statement Tuesday saying that the information sought by the Justice Department “contains the sensitive personal information of millions of Arizona voters.”
“Arizona acted correctly in refusing this request, and today’s ruling vindicates that decision,” they said in the statement. “Our offices will continue to defend the privacy of Arizona voters against federal overreach.”
It’s the sixth loss in cases where the Justice Department has demanded that states turn over their voter data. Similar rulings have happened in California, Oregon, Michigan, Massachusetts and Rhode Island.
Arizona has a law that requires proof of citizenship when registering to vote.
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