NEWARK – A federal court today rejected the US Department of Justice’s attempt to force New Jersey election officials to turn over the state’s unredacted voter file, which contains voters’ sensitive information like driver’s license numbers and partial Social Security numbers. To date, 18 district courts have issued merits rulings in the Trump administration’s lawsuits demanding sensitive personal data from millions of voters across the country, and the administration has lost all 18.
The League of Women Voters of New Jersey, Latino Action Network, and an individual New Jersey voter filed a motion to intervene in US v. Caldwell arguing that the DOJ had no legal authority to compel the disclosure of New Jersey voters’ confidential information. They are represented by the American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of New Jersey.
“This is a victory for New Jersey voters," said Jesse Burns, executive director of the League of Women Voters of New Jersey. “New Jersey has long protected voters' personal information, and today's ruling reaffirms that those safeguards matter. We will continue working to ensure every eligible voter can participate with confidence that their personal information is protected.”
“Today’s ruling is a strong rebuke of the Trump administration’s efforts to abuse federal power to gain access to voters’ private data and undermine trust in our elections,” said Liza Weisberg, supervising attorney for the ACLU of New Jersey. “The administration is seeking this information for pretextual purposes as it attempts to build an illegal national voter database to intimidate eligible voters and chill civic participation. We’ll keep fighting back.”
“This is a victory for every New Jersey voter who wants to cast a ballot without fear. We applaud the court’s decision to dismiss this case,” said Javier Robles, president of the Latino Action Network. “Naturalized citizens face particular risks when voting rights are under attack. We will continue to fight for the privacy of our members and all New Jersey voters.”
“Again and again, federal judges appointed by presidents of both parties have rejected the Trump administration’s efforts to commandeer states’ voter rolls,” said Ari Savitzky, senior staff attorney for the ACLU’s Voting Rights Project. “This is a win for fair elections and a loss for this administration’s sad and baseless efforts to sow chaos and distrust in our democracy. We look forward to more rulings like this.”
In the brief, the intervener-defendants argued that the DOJ’s request threatened voter privacy and could enable voter disenfranchisement. They sought to advance the interests of civic engagement groups, whose work is compromised when New Jerseyans have reason to distrust the registration process, and individual voters, including naturalized citizens, who risk being targeted by the federal government and whose private data is impacted by this litigation.
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