DOJ files lawsuit against WA Secretary of State for withholding voter registration data

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a lawsuit on Tuesday, claiming that Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs violated federal law by refusing to share voter registration data with the government.

The lawsuit seeks a court order requiring Hobbs to release the full, unredacted voter database within five days of the court order, according to KIRO 7. The DOJ also requested voter registration application records from the previous 22 months.

Under the Civil Rights Act, the court’s review will be limited to two questions: whether the Attorney General made a written demand, and whether the custodian of records refused to comply. If the DOJ’s request is granted, the court will require WA to release the complete statewide voter list.

DOJ, Hobbs clash ahead of government shutdown

On Sept. 8, the DOJ requested that several states, including Washington, turn over voter registration records as part of a review of each state’s voter rolls to compare registration lists and ensure voters weren’t registered in multiple states.

The Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights, Harmeet Dhillon, previously stated in an exclusive interview on “The Jason Rantz Show” on Seattle Red 770 AM that the DOJ would enforce several laws that require states to maintain accurate voter rolls.

“We’re just exercising our statutory authority under the Voting Rights Act and Help America Vote Act, and National Voter Registration Act,” Dhillon said. “We’re seeking from several states to be able to look at their voter rolls, including Social Security information, to make sure that the Help America Vote Act obligations are being carried out to clean up the voter rolls. That’s a federal requirement.”

Before the federal government shutdown on Oct. 1, Hobbs rejected the DOJ’s request and claimed that Washington law prevents the release of specific personal information, including Social Security numbers, birthdates, and driver’s license numbers.

“Our office has taken a close look at the Department of Justice request and determined that while we can provide much of what was requested, including gender, addresses, year of birth, and registration dates, state law prohibits us from providing dates of birth and Social Security information,” Hobbs said.

Dhillon explained that the information Hobbs offered would be ineffective for the DOJ’s auditing process, as the department pushes for precision and accuracy.

“It’s not effective for us to do the vetting necessary to have, like, a list of people’s names and their genders — that doesn’t do it,” Dhillon said. “We want to be precise. If we’re cleaning up the voter rolls, we want to make sure it’s the person in question. I respect people’s voting rights … That’s why I need all the relevant information.”

Hobbs further stated that the DOJ request was “inconsistent with our state’s laws protecting voters’ private information.”

In response to Hobbs’ claims, Dhillon threatened that the DOJ would take action after the government shutdown to dispel Hobbs’ reasoning to withhold the voter information.

“Guess who issues the Social Security numbers? The federal government does. Who are you keeping secrets from? That is stupid, and we will definitely be taking action to enforce our federal civil rights law,” Dhillon said on “The Jason Rantz Show.” “The shutdown will end, and we will get back into filing lawsuits … we’re going to pursue all of our legal options, and we’re going to enforce our Federal Voting Rights laws.”

In line with Dhillon’s threat to take legal action against Washington, the DOJ filed a lawsuit for the release of the state’s voter rolls less than a month after the government reopened.

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