Sarah Merken
NEW YORK, Jan 15 (Reuters) – A federal judge on Thursday dismissed a U.S. Justice Department lawsuit seeking California’s unredacted statewide voter registration list.
U.S. District Judge David Carter in Santa Ana said the Justice Department’s claims were insufficient under federal civil rights and voting laws, adding that its request, which included voters’ names, dates of birth, driver’s license information and partial Social Security numbers, violated privacy laws.
“The federal concentration of this information will have a chilling effect on voter registration, which will inevitably lead to lower voter turnout as voters fear their information is being used for some inappropriate or unlawful purpose,” said Carter, who was appointed by Democratic President Bill Clinton.
The Trump administration’s Justice Department filed a lawsuit in September against California and several other mostly Democratic states for failing to provide voter registration lists. It cited laws that it said allow the attorney general to request statewide voter rolls and ensure states effectively maintain voter data.
California rejected the request, saying it did not legally have the authority to turn over voter information.
California Secretary of State Shirley Weber said in a statement Thursday that she will “continue to fulfill my commitment to the people of California to protect our democracy, and I will continue to challenge this administration’s disregard for the rule of law and voting rights.”
The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Reuters reported in September that the Justice Department was in talks with a division of the Department of Homeland Security about transferring voter roll data for use in criminal and immigration investigations.
Trump and many of his allies have long spread baseless claims of voter fraud, including that large numbers of immigrants living in the country illegally are voting.
(Reporting by Sara Merken in New York; Editing by Thomas Derpinghaus)