The U.S. Department of Justice is suing Maine and Secretary of State Shenna Bellows for not handing over information about the state’s registered voters.
The lawsuit, and a similar suit against Oregon and its secretary of state, alleges that Maine and Bellows violated three federal laws by refusing to provide data on the removal of ineligible people from voter rolls, and refusing to produce an unredacted, computerized state voter registration list.
By refusing to provide the information, the DOJ says Maine, Oregon and their secretaries of state violated The National Voter Registration Act Of 1993, The Help America Vote Act of 2002 and the Civil Rights Act of 1960.
“American citizens have a right to feel confident in the integrity of our electoral process, and the refusal of certain states to protect their citizens against vote dilution will result in legal consequences,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division.
Bellows formally denied the DOJ’s request for voter information in August.
Last week she defended that position citing privacy laws around sensitive and protected personally identifying information, and the Constitution, which gives states the right to conduct elections without federal interference.
“The Department of Justice hasn’t shown any good reason for its fishing expedition for sensitive voter information on every American,” Bellows said, adding that the federal government “has a terrible track record keeping private data safe.”
Bellows noted that other states, including Pennsylvania and New Hampshire have also rejected the DOJ’s demands.
