Last year, the DOJ asked many states, including Idaho, to release their election records, including partial Social Security numbers and driver’s license numbers.
The state refused, and the Department filed the lawsuit on April 1 for the information. It says the U.S. Attorney General has the right to request election records under the Civil Rights Act of 1960, so lists can be checked for improper registrations.
Idaho Secretary of State Phil McGrane told Idaho Matters on Monday the Department hasn’t justified why it needs the data.
“Unless we have a very clear court order why we would share this information, we're going to continue to protect it. That's what the state legislature has set for us,” said McGrane.
The DOJ says it wants to check voter rolls for improper registration. McGrane says he’s confident in the state’s election security.
“We're already doing the safety checks in terms of ensuring that dead people aren't voting, that felons aren't voting, that non-citizens aren't on our voter rolls. We have a lot of safeguards in place,” said McGrane.
Idaho Secretary of State Phil McGrane said his office is not required to disclose sensitive voter details and wants to keep that data secure.
“I want Idahoans to feel rest assured, both that their information is secure, that their vote is secure, and that they should be able to participate in the process undeterred by what any of us are doing,” said McGrane.
The Brennan Center for Justice says the federal department has asked for sensitive voter data from almost every state, plus Washington DC. Thirty states have been sued for not complying and six lawsuits have been dropped.
