Overview
- The Justice Department filed the new cases Tuesday after both states declined to turn over complete voter registration databases with sensitive identifiers.
- DOJ officials say the records are needed to enforce federal voter-registration and list-maintenance laws and to protect election integrity.
- The department says it has now sued 23 states and the District of Columbia over similar refusals, while some states have voluntarily provided the data.
- In Arizona, Secretary of State Adrian Fontes rejected the demand on privacy grounds and vowed not to comply, and Attorney General Kris Mayes said the state will defend against the lawsuit.
- The complaints cite the Civil Rights Act of 1960, the National Voter Registration Act, and the Help America Vote Act, as voting-rights groups warn the effort risks a national voter database and potential data sharing with DHS.