Latest news with #HelpAmericaVoteAct
Gulf Today
7 days ago
- Politics
- Gulf Today
DOJ's push to collect your data is a fishing expedition
With his approval rating sinking lower and lower, and facing the prospect of losing control of the House to Democrats, President Donald Trump is engaged in an unprecedented attempt to manipulate the midterm elections. Not only has he demanded that Texas redraw its congressional districts, he's now got Attorney General Pam Bondi and the Department of Justice embarking on another insidious strategy: Building a dossier of private information on every voter that Trump can use for political advantage. Over the past several weeks, the DOJ Civil Rights Division has sent letters to more than a dozen states demanding they hand over their voter lists, including sensitive private information — such as driver's license and Social Security numbers linked to names, home addresses and, in many cases, dates of birth. The DOJ is telling state election officials that it needs the data to check their compliance with the National Voter Registration Act and the Help America Vote Act — presumably to hunt for illegal voting — and it reportedly intends to contact all 50 states. But while federal law gives the Justice Department the ability to require states to put procedures in place to comply with those laws and remove ineligible voters from voter rolls, it doesn't give the federal government authority over election administration — and that includes reviewing and maintaining the rolls themselves, said David Becker, executive director of the Center for Election Innovation & Research. 'We're seeing an unprecedented effort to seize power that is not granted under the Constitution, to realign the balance of power between the executive branch and the judiciary and, especially, the states,' he said. There's another reason the DOJ may want the data. NPR reported recently that the administration is building a searchable national citizenship data system to be used by state and local election officials to root out noncitizen voting — something election experts say is an inconsequential problem. A report released last week from Becker's organisation concluded that in states that have investigated the issue, incidents of noncitizen voting are minuscule and random. By all indications, the DOJ data call is a massive fishing expedition. 'They are just looking for any kind of indication of wrongdoing or error that they can point to, to further fuel the federal government's intrusion into election administration,' said Jonathan Diaz, director of voting advocacy and partnerships at the Campaign Legal Center, a nonpartisan organisation that advocates for government accountability. Yet Michael Whatley, the Republican National Committee Chair, obliquely defended the effort as about 'election integrity' and trying to ensure 'safe and secure elections in key states.' That's obfuscation. It sounds to me — and to the election experts I've talked with from both parties — that this exercise isn't really about election integrity, but about laying the groundwork for a political strategy for the midterm elections. That strategy could take many frightening forms, the experts told me. Trump could suggest that states can't be trusted and use that to justify a state of emergency that allows him to seize control of state voting operations or suspend voting in certain states. (Never in American history have we suspended federal elections, Becker says — and that includes during wars, pandemics and natural disasters.) Or Trump could distort the voter data he collects and use it to continue to spread false claims and conspiracy theories about the security of US elections. One result of these conspiracies, as we've learned, is that many Americans distrust any election where their candidate loses. Even just collecting the data may scare some people into staying away from the polls. There are many people who might decide not to vote if they think federal access to their personal data could be used to intimidate them. What's especially troubling is that the DOJ's action could undermine the decentralised elections system 'that makes our elections so resilient and so resistant to things like foreign interference,' Diaz told me. The Constitution intentionally gives election administration exclusively to the states because 'the founders were very skeptical of a sort of all-powerful executive — having just thrown off the shackles of a king.' For states to comply with these letters, they would have to violate a federal law that prohibits the sharing of driver's license numbers and, in many cases, also violate their state constitutions. According to a list assembled by the National Conference of State Legislatures, many states have stricter privacy protections for their voter files than the federal government does. Another troubling development is that while states have developed strict protocols for protecting this information, the DOJ hasn't said how it will keep the data safe from hackers and cybersecurity breaches. The agency has an obligation to protect individuals, including elected officials, judges, domestic violence victims and others whose personal information is under a protective order or exempt from public disclosure and it owes the public an explanation for how it's going to handle the data if it gets it. Trump tried to intimidate states like this in his first term, when he created a special commission that told states to turn over their voter files so the federal government could audit them. Election officials forcefully pushed back. Members later admitted the group was set up to validate Trump's voter fraud claims. The commission was disbanded. This time, that resistance may be quieter, but election officials in both red and blue states appear to be defying the DOJ request and turning over only the parts of their voter files that are already public. In a letter to the DOJ, New Hampshire's Republican Secretary of State David Scanlan pointed to a state law that says the voter database 'shall be private and confidential' and not subject to any records requests. And Utah's Republican Lieutenant Governor Deidre Henderson told the Salt Lake City Tribune on Thursday that the state turned over its public voter list to federal officials, but 'if they want protected data, there's a process for government entities to request it for lawful purposes.' Then there's Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, a Democrat, who said this week that her state law doesn't allow her to release the data and suggested Trump's DOJ 'go jump in the Gulf of Maine.' If Bondi has a good reason to force states to turn over the voter data, she should state the reason and ask Congress to change federal law to do it. Until then, every American should be concerned about the president trying to exercise power that he doesn't have so he can invade your privacy because you decided to vote.
San Francisco Chronicle
31-07-2025
- Politics
- San Francisco Chronicle
Trump administration asked San Francisco's election chief for sensitive voter data
The Department of Justice has demanded private personal information about some people in the San Francisco Department of Election's system, a request the department has not yet complied with and said it is reviewing. The request, dated July 9, asks the Department of Elections for five years' worth of records showing voters whose registration was canceled because the voter did not satisfy citizenship requirements. It also asks San Francisco's election chief to provide a trove of personal information about those people, including their voter registration application, voter registration record, voting history, date of birth, driver's license number and the last four digits of their Social Security number. The same Department of Justice official, Maureen Riordan, demanded the same information from Orange County Registrar Bob Page in June. When Page refused to disclose what he said was personal information protected by state laws, the DOJ sued him. John Arntz, the director of the Department of Elections, told Riordan on July 23 that he's reviewing the request and planned to respond no later than Aug. 29. He asked Riordan to detail 'the specific statutory authority for this request and whether records produced will be kept confidential within the Department of Justice.' Election law experts previously told the Chronicle that the laws being cited by the DOJ in its demand to Orange County do not actually give the agency the authority to demand sensitive personal information from elections officials. The law cited by Riordan, the Help America Vote Act, requires local officials to coordinate with the state to maintain the voter rolls. When Page offered to provide the data to the DOJ if officials there agreed to keep it confidential, the department instead filed a lawsuit. The request for voters' personal information from San Francisco officials is just the latest such move from the Department of Justice, which has been seeking voter rolls and requesting to inspect voter equipment across the country, the Washington Post reported earlier this month. Such requests have alarmed officials in those jurisdictions because of the potential for federal interference with upcoming Trump administration's efforts to collect data on noncitizens comes amid the administration's aggressive mass deportation efforts. White House officials have promised to boost deportation numbers and demanded federal agents hit 3,000 immigration arrests per day. The DOJ earlier this month requested information on noncitizens in custody in large California metros — something the San Francisco Sheriff's Office and the California Attorney General forcefully condemned. Sheriff Paul Miyamoto said at the time his office would only respond to information requests 'consistent with local, state, and federal law' but that his priority was public safety and 'not politics.' California Attorney General Rob Bonta responded angrily to the request, with his spokesperson adding Trump and the DOJ 'cannot bully our local law enforcement into breaking the law.'
Yahoo
31-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Rep. Duane Quam questions secretary of state's refusal to comply with fed's request for voting data
Jul. 30—ST. PAUL — GOP Rep. Duane Quam of Byron is urging Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon to reconsider his refusal to provide President Trump's Department of Justice with a copy of its statewide voter registration list. The Department of Justice's voting section, in a June letter, asked for information regarding the state's compliance with the Help America Vote Act and, in particular, how it handles voter registration, voter-roll maintenance, security protocols, and steps taken to identify and remove noncitizens. Simon's office rejected the DOJ's request last week. It noted that the list includes personal identifying information on several million voters and the request lacked "clear justification for the data." Simon's office also said it would require guarantees showing that "the data will be protected and used properly before it can consider whether it is appropriate to share Minnesota's voter registration list." "As a result, it is the long-standing practice of the OSS not to disclose any information contained on its statewide voter registration list unless expressly required by law," Justin Erickson, the secretary of state's general counsel, wrote in a Friday, July 25, 2025, letter. Quam, who co-chairs the House Elections Finance and Government Operations Committee, called Simon's decision "extremely puzzling and disappointing." He cited recent federal convictions of individuals who tried to register illegal and fake voters in the state. "In order to fulfill their obligations under the law, the Department of Justice needs to verify compliance and ensure citizen voting rights are protected," Quam wrote. "To do this they need access to information which you are withholding." Quam also questioned the grounds for refusing the DOJ's request for statewide voter registration list because it contained "personal identifying information." He noted that such private information was not something that the DOJ was requesting. "The statewide registered voter list is available to purchase by the public on your website for $46, with personal identifying information removed," Quam wrote. Quam's letter was signed by five other state representatives. As reported by Stateline, a nonprofit news service, the DOJ is seeking the voter registration lists of other states, including Alaska, Colorado, Nevada, New Hampshire, New York, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. The requests come ahead of the 2026 midterm elections, raising questions and concerns about how the Trump administration plans to use the information. In his letter, Quam wrote that Minnesota is projecting a $6 billion deficit and "can ill afford a costly lawsuit with the federal government." The DOJ's focus on elections comes after President Trump directed U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi in March to seek information about suspected election crimes from state officials. Trump also authorized her to potentially withhold grants and other funds from uncooperative states, Stateline reported. Trump has maintained for years that 2020 election was stolen from him when he lost to Democrat Joe Biden, a claim rejected by the courts and not supported by the evidence, experts and officials such as then-Attorney General Bill Barr have said.
Yahoo
19-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
NC elections board launches program to gather missing data for 103K registered voters
The state Board of Elections has undertaken an effort to collect driver's license numbers or partial social security numbers for roughly 103,000 voters whose information is missing from the state's voter rolls. "The Registration Repair Project aims to ensure that North Carolina's voter rolls are as accurate and complete as possible, bring them into compliance with recent state court rulings, and settle a pending lawsuit with the U.S. Department of Justice," a news release July 18 said. The Department of Justice alleges that North Carolina violated the Help America Vote Act by using a voter registration form that didn't require applicants to provide a driver's license number or the last four digits of their Social Security number when registering. Under federal and state law, when a person registers to vote, they must provide that information, which is then used to verify the person's identity. "However, faulty instructions on a voter registration form used in North Carolina for about a decade led some voters to register without providing either number," the release said. "The voter registration form was corrected in January 2024 to make it clear that one of those numbers is required." The state Board of Elections noted that some have inaccurately suggested the effort would remove eligible voters from the rolls. "Instead," Sam Hayes, executive director of the elections board, said in the release, 'it will result in cleaner, more complete voter rolls and full compliance with state and federal laws. He said the office has undergone "great lengths" to streamline and make the process transparent. He said BOE expects the list of voters for which the information is needed "will decrease quickly." The list of voters — including 100 who live in Cumberland County — is available on the NCBOE website at Users can click the Registration Repair button on the home page and search the database by name, street address, voter registration number or county. Voters on the Registration Repair list have three options If you find you're among the 1.3% of N.C. voters whose records need to be updated, you have three options, according to the NCBOE. • Submit an updated voter registration form through the DMV's website at Click 'Continue as Guest' when asked to log into myNCDMV. There is no fee for this service. Click 'Yes' when asked to update your voter information. • Visit your county board of elections office, and they can help you ensure your registration is complete. You will need to have your driver's license number or Social Security number with you. The Cumberland County Board of Elections is located in the E. Newton Smith Center at 227 Fountainhead Lane, Suite 101, in Fayetteville. Office hours are Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information, visit the Cumberland County Board of Elections online at or call 910-678-7733. The Board of Elections will not request your personal information over the phone. • In August, the State Board of Elections will mail letters to individuals who remain on the list at the time the mailing is sent. You can fill out the letter and mail it to the county board of elections in the pre-addressed return envelope enclosed with the letter. Postage is provided on the envelope. The Cumberland County Board of Elections mailing address is 227 Fountainhead Lane, Suite 101, Fayetteville, NC 28301. The NCBOE said that in future elections, if in-person voters are on the list and have not provided the information, they will be required to cast a provisional ballot and provide the information when they vote. This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: NC election board launches Registration Repair Project for voter records Solve the daily Crossword
Winnipeg Free Press
17-07-2025
- Politics
- Winnipeg Free Press
Prodded by lawsuits, North Carolina seeks to tighten voter ID records for roughly 200,000 people
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina election officials on Thursday launched an online database of voter registration records for 103,000 people who need to add their driver's license numbers or partial Social Security numbers to the state's records, a move critics worry could disenfranchise some voters. The State Board of Elections began the process in an effort to resolve a lawsuit by President Donald Trump's Justice Department and — conservatives say — to help safeguard elections in the ninth-largest state. Nearly all of the people whose names are included in the online database have registered to vote since 2004, but didn't include the numerical identifiers. That's partially because for many years the state's registration form didn't make clear that both state law and the federal Help America Vote Act required registrants to provide the ID information if they had it. The absence of numerical IDs has muddled election administration and voter eligibility in North Carolina for over a year, and played a prominent part in a very close 2024 judicial race. The state has more than 7.5 million registered voters and is considered a perpetual battleground. Most recently, Trump defeated Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris by about 3 percentage points in the 2024 election. Sam Hayes, the newly installed executive director of the state election's board, said he's discussed the 'Registration Repair Project' with Justice Department attorneys and is hopeful it will settle the litigation. While U.S. attorneys haven't offered evidence of voter fraud related to the absent numerical IDs, they contend accurate registration rolls help ensure fair and reliable election results. People included in the newly launched online database can provide an ID number through the Division of Motor Vehicles website or by visiting their county election board offices. Registrants who haven't provided the ID information by early next month will get letters and postage-paid return envelopes allowing them to complete the process. Hayes said those who don't will have to vote provisionally the next time they cast a ballot — meaning their ballots may not count in some state and local races without correct ID information. Municipal elections in North Carolina are held starting in September. A former iteration of the State Board of Elections — led by a Democratic majority instead of the current Republican one — acknowledged the missing ID numbers in late 2023 and updated the voter registration form. The board declined to take further steps to collect the information, pointing out in part that the state's photo ID mandate for voters would affirm their identity. Lawsuits followed, first by state and national Republicans last summer who claimed voter rolls contained ineligible voters. Then the Justice Department sued in May, a few weeks after the new GOP-controlled board took office. 'We're going to fix this problem,' Hayes said. 'We must put this issue behind us so we can focus our attention squarely on preparations for accurate and secure municipal elections this fall.' Several advocacy groups and individuals have raised concerns that the DOJ litigation will result in eligible voters being removed from the rolls. The Democratic National Committee threatened last week to sue the state board this fall, saying its plan violates the National Voter Registration Act. 'The DNC applauds efforts to add identification numbers missing from the North Carolina voter file. But those efforts should not disenfranchise eligible voters,' DNC Litigation Director Dan Freeman said Thursday. But Hayes told reporters the project won't remove any eligible voter from the rolls. 'Instead, it will result in more complete voter rolls and full compliance with state and federal law,' he said. In addition to the 103,000 voters included in the online database of those with missing ID numbers, almost 100,000 more whose records lack the identifiers will be contacted later, election officials said Thursday. Those voters will be allowed to continue casting regular ballots because there's evidence, for example, that they supplied a number or an alternate ID allowed under the Help America Vote Act, said Paul Cox, a board attorney.
