RESOLVING THE LEDGER
This is one outlet's own report from CBS News — Top — the article as it was filed. Other outlets are covering the same event; open the full story to compare every source side by side.
See the full story · 1 sources
Washington \u2014 President Trump\u0027s administration has mounted efforts in nearly all 50 states to obtain their complete voter rolls containing sensitive information about registered voters in their states.The Justice Department has argued that the information is needed to ensure states are complying with two federal voting laws, the Help America Vote Act and the National Voter Registration Act, which aim to ensure states have programs in place for maintaining accurate voter rolls.The administration sent letters to most of the states last year seeking unredacted electronic copies of their statewide voter registration lists, which include voters\u0027 birth dates, addresses, partial Social Security numbers and driver\u0027s license numbers.A number of states have turned over publicly available versions of their voter rolls, but have declined to provide their complete lists. In response, the Justice Department has filed lawsuits against 30 states and the District of Columbia in an effort to force them to hand over the voter data.So far, the Trump administration has lost 20 of those cases. Federal judges have rejected the Justice Department\u0027s lawsuits for unredacted voter rolls from:\u00a0ArizonaCaliforniaColoradoConnecticutIllinoisKentuckyMaineMarylandMassachusettsMichiganNew HampshireNew JerseyNew MexicoNew YorkOregonPennsylvaniaRhode IslandVirginiaWest VirginiaWisconsinA federal judge dismissed the Justice Department\u0027s initial case against Georgia because it was filed in the wrong court, and government lawyers have since refiled it. The Justice Department voluntarily dismissed its lawsuit against Oklahoma after the state agreed to turn over its voter registration list.The other cases remain pending. Those are in Delaware, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Minnesota, Nevada, Utah, Vermont, Washington and Washington, D.C.The Justice Department has appealed most of the decisions dismissing its cases. So far, one appeals court, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit, has upheld a lower court decision rejecting the administration\u0027s attempt to obtain Michigan\u0027s voter rolls.The Trump administration\u0027s bids to gain access to states\u0027 unredacted voter registration lists are part of the president\u0027s efforts to exert more power over federal elections. Mr. Trump has signed two executive orders aimed at U.S. elections, though both have been blocked by the courts.The first executive order, signed last year, would require documentary proof of citizenship in order to register to vote. The second, announced in March, tightens the rules for mail-in voting and requires the Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Postal Service to compile and maintain lists of U.S. citizens who are eligible to vote.Mr. Trump is also pushing Congress to enact a package of voting regulations called the SAVE America Act, which would significantly curtail mail-in voting and impose new voter ID requirements.The president has long taken aim at mail-in voting and claimed it leads to widespread fraud, though he has not put forth evidence in support of those claims. He has also claimed that Democratic states allow noncitizens to vote in U.S. elections. It is a federal crime for noncitizens to vote.
AIPROPX is an independent multi-source news index — we track, compare, and connect coverage from across the web into one place you won't find anywhere else.