A federal judge on June 29 dismissed the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) lawsuit against New Hampshire over its refusal to turn over unredacted statewide voter registration lists sought by the government.
In a 26-page ruling, U.S. District Judge Joseph Laplante said that state voter registration data fall outside the category of records the federal government may require states to produce under Title III of the Civil Rights Act of 1960.
The judge said the voter registration data, which contains sensitive personal information including voters’ social security and driver’s license numbers, is a state-generated compilation of data that cannot be produced on demand.
“The SVRL [state voter registration list] is not a document that arrived at the secretary’s office from prospective voters or any other external source at an identifiable moment in time.
“Instead, it is a continuously maintained, state-generated compilation of data housed in a ‘relational database’ that New Hampshire has built, updated, and controlled since its creation,” he said.
Laplante also said the DOJ failed to explain the basis and purpose of its request to access New Hampshire’s voter registration data, as required by the law.
“After reviewing the parties’ submissions and hearing oral argument, because the attorney general’s demand did not comply with Title III of the Civil Rights Act of 1960 (CRA), and because he failed to allege a violation under the Help America Vote Act (HAVA), the court grants New Hampshire’s motion to dismiss and denies as moot the United States’ motion to compel,” the judge wrote.
New Hampshire Secretary of State David Scanlan welcomed the judge’s ruling in a June 29 statement issued by his office.
“I am committed to protecting the private information of New Hampshire voters to the fullest extent required by law,” he said. “Today’s court order affirms that I fulfilled that commitment by upholding New Hampshire law and safeguarding your private information from disclosure.”
The Epoch Times reached out to the DOJ for comment but did not receive a response by publication time.
The DOJ filed lawsuits in September against New Hampshire and five other states, alleging that they violated federal law by refusing to provide voting records the department said were necessary to prevent inclusion of ineligible voters. The lawsuits were filed separately in each state.
The department had said that its Civil Rights Division has been tasked by Congress with ensuring that states conduct voter registration list maintenance to prevent ineligible voters from being listed.
Last week, a federal appeals court ruled 2–1 that the DOJ lacks authority under the CRA to require Michigan to provide its unredacted statewide voter registration database.
Since last year, the DOJ has asked almost every state to provide access to their voter registration lists. At least 17 Republican-led states have voluntarily supplied the information, while multiple other states have refused, saying that supplying the data would violate voters’ privacy rights.
The federal government has now lost 10 cases over the issue, including its lawsuit against New Hampshire.
Matthew Vadum contributed to this report.
