Judge: DOJ Has No Authority To Demand CT Voter Lists

HARTFORD, CT — A federal judge has once again dismissed a lawsuit filed by the Trump administration seeking to force Connecticut to hand over its statewide voter registration list. A similar lawsuit seeking New York records was also dismissed last week.

So far, similar lawsuits have been filed against 22 other states, and several of them have also already been dismissed.

The Department of Justice filed a federal lawsuit in January against Connecticut for its refusal to hand over voter registration lists, invoking the Civil Rights Act of 1960.

The DOJ sought the release of voters’ full names, dates of birth, residential addresses, and either driver’s license numbers or the last four digits of Social Security numbers from Secretary of the State Stephanie Thomas for its nationwide investigation into alleged non-compliance with voting requirements.

U.S. District Judge Kari A. Dooley dismissed the action Friday, concluding that the DOJ has no authority under the Civil Rights Act of 1960 to require Connecticut to produce its statewide voter registration list. The court held that the list falls outside the statute because it is created by the Secretary of the State.

Attorney General William Tong, who fought the lawsuit on behalf of the state along with other members of his staff, said this lawsuit was an illegal attempt to disenfranchise Connecticut voters, but that the state had an obligation to protect sensitive voter information.

“The Constitution is clear: the President does not control our elections and has no right to manipulate Connecticut voter rolls,” Tong said in a statement. “Connecticut follows federal law and takes its obligations under federal law very seriously. We will not be bullied into handing over sensitive voter information just because Trump demands it.”

Federal judges have ruled against the administration’s push to obtain state election data 16 times, U.S. Rep. John Larson said.

“Secretary Thomas and Attorney General Tong showed us how you stand up to a bully and win,” Larson said in a statement after the Connecticut decision was announced. “The Trump Administration has proven time and time again that they cannot be trusted with the American people’s sensitive records. Citizens in other states have already been purged from the voter rolls because of their illegal election interference. We must never let that happen in Connecticut.”

State Republican leaders, however, have said transparency is important to restore Connecticut residents’ trust in the election system, noting prior issues like the state investigation into alleged ballot fraud in Bridgeport as justification for the federal demands. 

A U.S. District Court of Massachusetts judge in June blocked what Tong called “an unlawful executive order” from the White House that amounted to an attempt by the federal government to commandeer state elections, in addition to many other election changes the president has sought to implement.  

Tong has noted that the U.S. Constitution does not allow the president to unilaterally impose changes to federal election procedures, particularly without an act of Congress permitting him to do so.