President Donald Trump’s Department of Justice sued Utah Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson and four other states for refusing to hand over entire voter registration databases — something the state’s lieutenant governor said she is legally prohibited from doing.
Last year, the Trump administration sued 24 states, most of them run by Democrats, plus Washington, D.C., but Thursday’s lawsuit demonstrates that the Justice Department also has its sights set on Republican states. To date, according to a tracker by the University of Wisconsin Law School, federal judges have dismissed the lawsuits in California, Georgia, Oregon and Michigan.
The federal court in California ruled that voters should not have to choose between their constitutional right to privacy and their right to vote.
In addition to Utah, the Justice Department filed similar lawsuits in Oklahoma, Kentucky, West Virginia and New Jersey on Thursday, bringing the total to 29 states.
The administration contends it needs the nation’s complete voter list — which includes Social Security numbers, birth dates, driver license data and other private information — to verify states are adequately maintaining their voter registration records.
“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,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement.
The federal government does not run elections. Even in a national election, like for the presidency, each state conducts its own election and reports those tallies to Congress.
Read Robert Gehrke's full story at sltrib.com.
This article is published through the Utah News Collaborative, a partnership of news organizations in Utah that aims to inform readers across the state.