WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the Department of Justice (DOJ) filed federal lawsuits against California, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, New Hampshire, and Pennsylvania for not complying with the department’s requests to the states to produce their statewide voter registration lists. In response, All Voting is Local Michigan State Director Ashiya Brown and All Voting is Local Pennsylvania State Director Deb Hinchey issued the following statements:
“This is an abuse of power from the Trump administration to further election lies and undermine trust in the voting process – and it puts Americans’ privacy at risk. This is an overstepping of this administration’s authority without being clear about its intentions and plans. This isn’t normal. It isn’t their place,” said Ashiya Brown, All Voting is Local Michigan State Director “The Department of Justice’s efforts to bully state election officials to compromise sensitive voter data like addresses, driver’s license numbers, and partial Social Security numbers are a threat to the very democratic principles of free and fair elections that secretaries of state, including Secretary of State Benson, are working to uphold.”
“The federal government is trying to interfere with the way states run elections by harassing election officials in Pennsylvania and beyond for voters’ sensitive data,” said Deborah Hinchey, All Voting is Local Pennsylvania State Director. “Pennsylvania officials owe it to voters in the Commonwealth to continue taking all steps necessary to protect their privacy from this attempt by the current administration to intimidate voters and exert control over state elections. Voters are not pawns in a political game, and the Commonwealth will not be bullied into handing over its voter rolls to an authoritarian government that is hell-bent on sowing doubt into our elections for its own gain.”