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Justice Department sues West Virginia, other states over voter information

(Photo Illustration - MetroCreativeConnection - Court Reports)

CHARLESTON — The U.S. Department of Justice says it is suing five states, including West Virginia, over failing to produce their full voter registration lists upon request.

The filing by the department’s Civil Rights Division also includes Kentucky, New Jersey, Oklahoma and Utah, and was announced in a press release Thursday afternoon.

“Accurate, well-maintained voter rolls are a requisite for the election integrity that the American people deserve,” Attorney General Pamela Bondi said in the release. “This latest series of litigation underscores that this Department of Justice is fulfilling its duty to ensure transparency, voter roll maintenance and secure elections across the country.”

The West Virginia Secretary of State’s Office had not been served with the lawsuit, said Mike Queen, deputy secretary of state and communications director. However, they have seen reports about it.

“It wouldn’t be proper at this time for us to make any further comment,” Queen said.

A representative of the state Attorney General’s Office said they have not seen the suit or been officially asked to represent the secretary of state’s office, but their general policy is not to comment on pending litigation.

Secretary of State Kris Warner did address the Justice Department’s request for voter information in a Feb. 11 press release.

It said the request sought personally identifying information for every West Virginian registered to vote, “including their Social Security number, driver’s license number, and other sensitive identifiers.”

“West Virginians entrust me with their sensitive personal information. Turning it over to the federal government, which is contrary to state law, will simply not happen,” Warner said in the release. “State law is clear: Voter lists are available in a redacted format from my office, but I’ll not be turning over any West Virginian’s protected information.”

In the release, Warner cited a Feb. 10 dismissal of the Justice Department’s lawsuit against Michigan’s secretary of state, who refused to turn over voters’ personal data. The judge, an appointee of President Donald Trump, “ruled that no federal law, including the Help America Vote Act, National Voter Registration Act or Civil Rights Act of 1960, (gave) the DOJ authority to demand and receive states’ unredacted voter registration files,” the release said.

“My responsibility is first and foremost to the citizens of West Virginia,” Warner said in the release. “We will comply with the law, which does not allow us to release protected data. We have offered to work cooperatively with the federal government to maintain the continuity of elections nationwide, but the DOJ doesn’t have authority to run a state’s elections. I support efforts to strengthen election integrity, but I will not break the law, give up our state’s rights, or compromise the privacy of our citizens.”

The release noted more than 408,000 outdated, abandoned, out-of-state and otherwise ineligible voter registration records in West Virginia were canceled in the last nine years while more than 350,000 new voter registrations have been added.

The Justice Department’s release on Thursday says the U.S. attorney general “is uniquely charged by Congress with broad authority to request election records under the Civil Rights Act of 1960. This act allows her to demand the production, inspection and analysis of statewide voter registration lists that can be cross-checked effectively for improper registrations.”

“The Justice Department will continue to fulfill its oversight role dutifully, neutrally and transparently wherever Americans vote in federal elections,” Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division said in the DOJ release. “Many state election officials, however, are choosing to fight us in court rather than show their work. We will not be deterred, regardless of party affiliation, from carrying out critical election integrity legal duties.”

Evan Bevins can be reached at ebevins@newsandsentinel.com.

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