Lawsuits against Oregon and Maine test how far the federal government can go in demanding access to voter information.
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America’s electoral system has always been subject to—by design—a shifting balance of local control, state authority, and federal oversight. That balance is once again under strain, this time in the form of a pair of federal lawsuits that could redefine who ultimately controls access to voters’ personal data. Last week, the Justice Department filed twin lawsuits against Maine and Oregon, arguing that the states violated federal election laws and the Civil Rights Act by refusing to give the agency full access to the states’ voter data.
SinceMay,theJusticeDepartmenthassentletterstoatleast32statesrequestingaccesstotheirvoterregistrationdatabases,accordingtotheBrennanCenterforJustice.InearlyAugust,theagencyfollowedupwithamorespecificdemandforfullelectroniccopiesofthosefiles—includingnames,addresses,datesofbirth,andsensitiveidentifierssuchasdriver’slicenseandpartialSocialSecuritynumbers—alongwithdocumentationofhowstatesidentifyandremovein
