Federal judge rejects Department of Justice effort to obtain Maryland voter information
A federal district court judge has rejected the Justice Department's effort to obtain Maryland voter information.
The Department of Justice sued Maryland and several other states for not turning over private voter rolls, which include personal information for millions of Maryland voters.
In a decision shared Monday, Federal Judge Stephanie Gallagher dismissed the Department of Justice lawsuit, telling Department of Justice officials that the court will not interpret federal voting law "contrary to its text simply because an office of the party advancing the interpretation has adopted it."
Maryland State Board of Elections officials said the security and privacy of voter information remain a top priority and will be protected.
The court also ruled that the Civil Rights Act of 1960 prevents the federal government from demanding that states provide it with an unredacted statewide registration list.
"With today's ruling, Maryland's federal court has added its voice to the unanimous chorus of judges who have said states do not have to follow the Trump Administration's demand to turn over their unredacted voter registration databases," said Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown. "These databases contain the names, addresses, and Social Security numbers of millions of Marylanders, sensitive personal information that Marylanders have a right to keep private. DOJ sued Maryland and twenty-nine other jurisdictions for their refusal to hand over the unredacted, sensitive information, and nine courts have now agreed the Administration's demand was unlawful."
