Department of Justice sues Colorado for refusing to provide sensitive information on voters

Earlier this month, Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold refused to turn over sensitive voter information to the U.S. Department of Justice; now the federal agency is suing for its release.

The lawsuit stems from the DOJ's request for states to provide their statewide voter registration lists. Attorney General Pam Bondi said "too many states have fallen into a pattern of noncompliance with basic voter roll maintenance" and that the move is meant to ensure election integrity.

Colorado's top election official said the DOJ sent a broad request for the voter registration rolls in May. Griswold says her office complied with the request and "shared the publicly available data consistent with applicable law." However, the complaint against Griswold says that her office didn't respond to the May 12 letter.

Under Colorado state law, a voter's information that is considered "public record" includes a voter's full name, residential address, political party affiliation and date of affiliation, phone number if one was provided, gender identity if it was provided, birth year, and information about whether the voter has voted in prior elections.

In November, Griswold sent a letter signed by several Secretaries of State to the DOJ and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security requesting clarification on how the data would be used, but she says neither department replied.

She said the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. DOJ contacted her office on Dec. 1, directing Colorado to share the nonpublic, redacted data, which includes voters' dates of birth and complete state driver's license numbers or the last four digits of their Social Security numbers.

Griswold condemned the move, stating, "We will not comply with the Trump Department of Justice's request for Coloradans' sensitive voting information. The DOJ can take a hike; it does not have a legal right to the information. Colorado will not help Donald Trump undermine our elections and hurt the American people."

In response, the DOJ filed suit against Griswold, claiming that her actions "violate Title III of the Civil Rights Act as required by 52 U.S.C. § 20703."

The regulation allows the Attorney General or their representative to demand records or papers regarding voting and elections be available for inspection, reproduction and copying. The demand must be submitted in writing and contain a statement on the basis and purpose of the request. Under 52 U.S.C. §20704, those records can only be disclosed to "Congress and any committee thereof, governmental agencies, and in the presentation of any case or proceeding before any court or grand jury."

So far, the department has sued 16 states that it says have failed to release voter registration data. Those include California, Colorado, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington.

Many of those states have expressed concerns over privacy protection.

The push for higher scrutiny of voting procedures ramped up in the wake of claims by President Trump that some state voter rolls are filled with dead voters or people who are not in the U.S. legally. He filed dozens of lawsuits challenging the results of the 2020 election, claiming that widespread voter fraud cost him the election. There has been no evidence of a widespread issue or that the election was stolen, and judges, including some appointed by President Trump, have repeatedly rejected his claims.

During the 2024 presidential election, claims of voter fraud, which had been rampant on social media leading up to the election, quieted once it became clear Trump would win.