WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. District Judge Mary S. McElroy today dismissed a lawsuit filed by the Department of Justice demanding sensitive voter data from Rhode Island. The court granted a motion to dismiss filed by a group of intervenor-defendants represented by Elias Law Group, including SEIU District 1199NE, the Rhode Island Alliance for Retired Americans, and two Rhode Island voters.
“Today’s ruling is yet another recognition by a federal court that there is no legal basis for the Department of Justice’s demands that states hand over their citizens’ private information,” said Elias Law Group partner David Fox. “We are proud to stand with SEIU District 1199NE, the Rhode Island Alliance for Retired Americans, and the Rhode Island voters who refused to let the federal government seize their and their neighbors’ personal data without a fight.”
This decision is the fifth federal court in the last few months to reject the Trump Administration’s nationwide effort to amass sensitive personal information about every American voter. In this unprecedented and invasive effort, DOJ has demanded this information from every state’s election officials and sued the 29 states, plus the District of Columbia, that did not comply with its unlawful demands. DOJ has yet to win a single one of these 30 cases. Federal courts in California, Oregon, Michigan, Massachusetts, and now Rhode Island have dismissed its claims.
In a 14-page order in the Rhode Island case, Judge McElroy found that the DOJ’s demand letter failed to meet the requirements of Title III of the Civil Rights Act of 1960, and that the Trump Administration could not point to any evidence that Rhode Island was out of compliance with federal laws concerning voter list maintenance.
“Neither the National Voter Registration Act nor the Help America Vote Act authorize DOJ to conduct the kind of fishing expedition it seeks here,” wrote Judge McElroy.
Click HERE to read the full order.
Elias Law Group has moved to intervene on behalf of voters and pro-voting organizations in every DOJ voter data lawsuit filed against a state.
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