Trump administration denied access to Georgia voter rolls

The ruling joins the ranks of more than two dozen similar decisions finding that states are not required to hand over private voter information to the federal government.ATLANTA (CN) — A Georgia federal judge on Wednesday tossed a lawsuit by the Department of Justice seeking access to Georgia residents’ sensitive voter information.In 23-page ruling, U.S. District Court Judge Victoria Marie Calvert held that federal law doesn’t preempt Georgia’s voter privacy law.Calvert, a Joe Biden appointee, said the issue is dispositive, given that the state already largely complied with the federal government’s demand for voter records.The lawsuit was filed in December after Georgia’s Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger provided its voter registration data with redacted voters’ dates of birth, social security numbers, driver’s license numbers and other information deemed confidential by state law.The Justice Department argued it was entitled to the redacted information under the National Voter Registration Act and that it was needed to be verified through the Department of Homeland Security’s Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements, or SAVE, database.It also claimed having the voter’s private information “is necessary to identify duplicate registration records, registrants who have moved, and registrants who have died, or who are otherwise no longer eligible to vote in federal elections.”But Calvert said the federal law does not require the disclosure of sensitive information and only places procedural requirements on states to make reasonable efforts to remove ineligible voters from its voter rolls.“Defendant Raffensperger’s efforts demonstrate that it is possible to comply with both Georgia’s voter privacy law and federal laws related to voter records,” Calvert wrote.“Therefore, federal law does not preempt Georgia’s voter privacy law,” she added.The ruling is one of more than two dozen cases lost by President Donald Trump’s administration that were filed against states that refused to hand over unredacted voter information. Meanwhile, at least 16 states including Alabama, Florida and Alaska have fully complied with the administration’s demands, according to the Brennan Center For Justice.According to the Brennan Center, the effort is part of the administration’s concerted campaign to interfere with future elections, premised on false notions that U.S. elections are rigged and that there’s rampant voter fraud.Raffensperger, a Republican who notoriously defended the state’s elections against Trump’s false claims that he won the 2020 election, applauded the decision.“I will always protect the sensitive personal information of Georgians, in accordance with the law and the Constitution,” Raffensperger said.“I will not give in and break the law for anyone. Period," he added.Last year, Georgia canceled nearly 471,000 voter registrations, one of the largest removals of inactive voters in U.S. history.With early voting beginning Oct. 13, statewide systemic voter list purges are on hold as federal law prohibits it 90 days before a federal election, except for individually-focused maintenance such as updating the registration status of someone who has died or changed their name.Subscribe to our free newslettersOur weekly newsletter Closing Arguments offers the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world, while the monthly Under the Lights dishes the legal dirt from Hollywood, sports, Big Tech and the arts.Additional Reads