Overview

• The bipartisan Illinois State Board of Elections told federal officials it will not provide driver’s license and Social Security digits, birth dates, signatures, or other sensitive fields from the statewide voter file.
• Illinois said state privacy statutes prohibit such disclosure without clear federal authority and questioned DOJ’s reliance on 52 U.S.C. § 20510(a), which the board noted does not require pre‑litigation production of records.
• The board said it already sent a redacted voter list on Aug. 11 under the NVRA and will submit additional materials by Sept. 10 to demonstrate compliance with federal list‑maintenance rules.
• An Aug. 14 letter from Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon asserted federal preemption and cited the NVRA, the Help America Vote Act, and the Civil Rights Act in seeking the unredacted database.
• Illinois’ stance reflects a broader federal push for detailed voter data from at least 21 states, and the Justice Department did not immediately comment on the refusal.