GRAND RAPIDS, MI — The League of Women Voters of Michigan, represented by Campaign Legal Center, the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU Law, and the Michigan law firm Goodman Acker, filed a motion yesterday to intervene on behalf of voters in US v. Benson, a lawsuit brought by the US Department of Justice against the state of Michigan for failing to comply with the department’s demand for the state’s complete voter file. The Department of Justice hasn’t provided sufficient justification for seeking this data, which includes sensitive information such as driver’s license numbers and partial Social Security numbers.
The League of Women Voters of Maine and the League of Women Voters of New York State recently filed motions to intervene in similar cases brought by the Department of Justice against their states. Campaign Legal Center and the Brennan Center for Justice represented them. The League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania, League of Women Voters of Minnesota, and League of Women Voters of California also filed motions to intervene in similar cases brought by the Department of Justice.
The organizations commented on today’s motion, filed in US Western District Court of Michigan, as follows:
“We will not stand by while a federal fishing expedition puts the information of millions of Michiganders at risk and encourages voter intimidation,” said Lynne Kochmanski, co-president of the League of Women Voters of Michigan. “There is no reason for the federal government to seize control of voter data that they do not need and have no right to possess. We are seeking to intervene to send a clear message to the administration and voters: we will fight to protect our members’ and voters’ data from unlawful seizure. We are proud to stand with our partners in defending the integrity of our democracy.”
"The Department of Justice’s relentless crusade to demand sensitive voter data from states, now landing in Michigan, is a flagrant power grab that tramples critical voter privacy laws and undermines the trust in our democratic processes,” said Celina Stewart, CEO of the League of Women Voters of the United States. “The League has already sought to intervene in five other cases, and we will not back down until we ensure that Michigan’s voter files remain shielded from political interference. No voter deserves to be intimidated by their own government.”
“Our democracy works best when every voter has a chance to participate in the electoral process,” said Brent Ferguson, director of strategic litigation of the Campaign Legal Center. “The Justice Department’s efforts to access voter data from states nationwide, including Michigan, is an act of federal overreach that risks violating voters’ privacy and potentially disincentivizing people from casting ballots. The Constitution is clear that the states and Congress have the power to administer and regulate elections. We will keep fighting to protect Americans from the Trump administration’s attempts to limit the freedom to vote.”
“The Justice Department’s case against Michigan is part of an effort to collect voter files — including drivers’ license and social security numbers — from every state,” said Eileen O’Connor, senior counsel of the Brennan Center for Justice. “This push is part of the administration’s campaign to undermine our elections. The department may manipulate the data in service of false claims about our elections or to pressure states to remove eligible voters from the rolls. The states have been protecting voters’ personal information and running reliable elections for decades and decades, yet the federal government is now trying to amass a trove of sensitive information about American voters that would put their privacy at risk.”