Officials react to DOJ voter roll lawsuit

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(The Center Square) - People are speaking up about a lawsuit filed against the commonwealth Thursday by the U.S. Department of Justice for failure to comply with a request for the state’s voter registration data.

Pennsylvania was one of six states who received the request last month, which Secretary of State Al Schmidt denied saying it was a “concerning attempt to expand the federal government’s role in our country’s electoral process.”

Sen. Steve Santarsiero, D-Doylestown, issued a statement Monday about the lawsuit.

“In an effort to continue to sow distrust in our electoral process the Federal Government, through the Department of Justice, is attempting to unconstitutionally collect private personal data on every registered voter in the Commonwealth,” wrote Santarsiero. “We must remain steadfast in our commitment to calling out these attempts to undermine our democracy and elections and protect the rights of our citizens.”

Schmidt’s initial response to the Department of Justice directed them to the state’s Full Voter Export, which includes “voter ID number, name, sex, date of birth, date registered, status (i.e., active or inactive), date status last changed, party, residential address, mailing address, polling place, date last voted, all districts in which the voter votes, voter history, and date the voter’s record was last changed.”

The DOJ request demanded additional sensitive information including social security and driver’s license numbers. 

“Clean voter rolls are the foundation of free and fair elections,” said Attorney General Pam Bondi. “Every state has a responsibility to ensure that voter registration records are accurate, accessible, and secure — states that don’t fulfill that obligation will see this Department of Justice in court.”

Skeptics of the department’s motives cite the insistence of President Donald Trump and many of his supporters that the 2020 election was stolen as evidence that the administration is attempting to interfere with free and fair elections. Evidence of widespread voter fraud in the 2020 election never materialized and lawsuits arguing the matter were roundly dismissed in state and federal courts.

“Our elections are safe and fair, President Trump should know, he won his presidency with this exact trusted system,” wrote Mike Lee, executive director for the ACLU of Pennsylvania. “His attempts to cast doubt on the legitimacy of our elections are illogical and appear to be part of a broader strategy to manipulate unfavorable outcomes, who can and can't vote, and whose votes ultimately count, particularly in key battleground states like Pennsylvania.”

Meanwhile, conservative groups like the Public Interest Legal Foundation have filed hundreds of public records requests across the country to gain access to voter files. Many of them target states led by Democrats, and the disputes have landed in the courts in most cases.

“The Justice Department’s demand for voters’ personal information, including driver’s license numbers and Social Security numbers, is unprecedented and unlawful, and we will vigorously fight the federal government’s overreach in court,” said Schmidt.

Other states hit with similar lawsuits on Thursday included New York, California, New Hampshire, Michigan and Minnesota. Earlier this month, the DOJ sued election officials in Maine and Oregon.