SALT LAKE CITY — The Democratic National Committee is siding with Utah's Republican Lt. Governor as she pushes back on a demand from the U.S. Department of Justice for protected and private voter information.
In an amicus filing in U.S. District Court, the DNC said a federal judge should grant Lt. Governor Deidre Henderson's motion to dismiss the lawsuit. The political party warns that what the DOJ is seeking could be used to build a national database of Americans and could chill voter rights.
"...DOJ is consolidating state databases into a national voter file and seemingly intends to transfer the personally identifying information and party affiliation of every registered voter in Utah to the Department of Homeland Security," DNC attorney David Reymann wrote in the amicus. "This deception invalidates the Title III demand. A Justice Department that cannot be forthright with election officials cannot be trusted with the personal information of every registered voter in Utah. The Democratic National Committee submits this amicus brief to protect the privacy of its members and the interests of its candidates and campaigns in free and fair elections and respectfully requests that this Court grant Lieutenant Governor Henderson’s Motion to Dismiss."
The Justice Department is suing Lt. Gov. Henderson and numerous other state elections officers, demanding voter roll information. At the time the lawsuit was filed, then-U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said it was part of a broader investigation into "election integrity" and she was entitled to the information under the Civil Rights Act.
Lt. Gov. Henderson has so far resisted, arguing that state and federal laws do not entitle the DOJ to that information, which would include Social Security numbers, driver license numbers, dates of birth and party affiliations. Her lawyers have asked for the lawsuit to be dismissed.
The DOJ has filed a motion before a federal judge asking him to compel the Lt. Governor to hand over the information. No hearing has been scheduled on that yet. Attorney General Bondi was fired by President Trump earlier this week.
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People has intervened the case, siding with Lt. Gov. Henderson. The American Civil Liberties Union of Utah, representing the League of Women Voters of Utah, has also asked to intervene in support of Utah's chief elections officer.
Read the DNC's filing here:
