Judge dismisses Trump administration's lawsuit attempting to obtain Georgia's sensitive voter data
A federal judge has tossed out a U.S. Justice Department lawsuit against Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger over the federal government's attempt to obtain Georgia's complete voter rolls.
The lawsuit was part of an effort in nearly every state to obtain the sensitive voter information, which included unredacted personal information such as voters' birthdates, addresses, and driver's license numbers.
In a ruling filed on Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Victoria Marie Calvert agreed with Raffensperger's argument that the DOJ's request violated Georgia law, which states that data collected about voters needs to remain confidential.
Calvert pointed to the Supremacy Clause of the United States Constitution, stating that, while the DOJ was using Title III of the Civil Rights Act to demand the information, it did not apply to all records, only those that are public, and did not supersede the state regulations.
"Based on the text of the CRA, including what was cited above, there is no explicit manifestation of Congress's intent to preempt states' voter privacy laws," the judge wrote.
Calvert found that Raffensperger and the Secretary of State's Office have complied with federal law relating to voter records, maintaining the state's voter lists and sharing updated files with other states and the District of Columbia to follow federal list maintenance guidelines. For those reasons, she chose to dismiss the case, closing it.This is the second lawsuit filed by the federal government seeking voter information from the state. The previous one was dismissed without prejudice in January after a judge ruled the DOJ should have sued Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger in Atlanta, and not in a separate federal judicial district in Macon, where the secretary of state also has an office.
The Trump administration characterizes the lawsuits as an effort to ensure election security, and the Justice Department says the states are violating federal law by refusing to provide voter lists and information.
Raffensperger was the rare Republican to decline the government's demand, arguing that the federal government hasn't met those conditions required to release the personal information. He says he shared the public part of the voter roll and information about how Georgia removes ineligible or outdated registrations in December.
"I will always protect the sensitive personal information of Georgians, in accordance with the law and the Constitution," Raffensperger said in a statement following the ruling. "I will not give in and break the law for anyone. Period."
Georgia's case is the 26th out of 30 that the Trump administration has lost in its effort to receive complete voting lists. Four cases remain pending in Delaware, Hawaii, Idaho and Utah.
