PROVIDENCE, R.I. — A federal court has thrown out a Justice Department lawsuit that demanded comprehensive voter information from Rhode Island, marking another victory for states resisting federal data collection efforts.
U.S. District Court Judge Mary McElroy ruled in favor of Rhode Island’s election officials and civil rights groups on Friday, determining that federal law does not authorize the U.S. Department of Justice “to conduct the kind of fishing expedition it seeks here.”
The Justice Department declined to provide a statement about the ruling, citing ongoing legal proceedings in an email response.
McElroy’s ruling mirrors rejections issued by federal courts nationwide since the Justice Department launched efforts to collect comprehensive voter information from states. The requested data encompasses birth dates, home addresses, driver’s license numbers, and portions of Social Security numbers.
Federal authorities claim the voter information is necessary for maintaining election security, while Democratic and some Republican state leaders have pushed back against these demands, arguing they breach state and federal privacy protections.
“The executive branch seems to have no problem taking actions that are clear Constitutional overreaches, regularly meddling in responsibilities that are the rights of the states,” Rhode Island Secretary of State Gregg M. Amore said in a statement. “But the power of our democratic republic, built on three, coequal branches of government, is clearer than ever before.”
Election administrators have expressed worry that federal agencies might use the confidential information for additional purposes, including investigations into potential non-citizens. These fears intensified when DOJ lawyers revealed in the Rhode Island proceedings that the department wanted complete voter registration data to share with the Department of Homeland Security for citizenship verification purposes.
According to the Brennan Center, no fewer than 12 states have either delivered or agreed to deliver their comprehensive voter registration databases to the department: Alaska, Arkansas, Indiana, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas and Wyoming.
The DOJ has initiated legal action against at least 30 states plus the District of Columbia in attempts to compel the release of this information. Beyond Rhode Island, federal judges have denied these efforts in California, Massachusetts, Michigan and Oregon. In Georgia, a judge threw out a DOJ case due to improper venue, leading the government to refile in a different jurisdiction.
In her Rhode Island decision, McElroy aligned with the federal judge’s ruling in Oregon. That decision determined the federal government lacked entitlement to complete voter registration databases containing private information and concluded the Justice Department had not established a legitimate basis or objective for requesting the voter files.
“Absent from the demand are any factual allegations suggesting that Rhode Island may be violating the list maintenance requirements,” McElroy wrote.
