The Department of Justice announced on Tuesday that it had sued the states of Maine and Oregon for failing to relinquish voter registration lists.
The DOJ claimed both states violated federal law by not complying with requests to turn over voter registration lists, particularly information about ineligible voters in each state, the Associated Press reported. The DOJ also accused Oregon of failing to provide specific and relevant information on how the state keeps accurate voter lists.
The lawsuit represents the first actions the Justice Department took to obtain voter information from states to ensure election integrity and eliminate any voter fraud, if it exists. Currently, it is believed the DOJ has requested information from at least 26 states, according to the Associated Press.
Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division said the actions were being taken to ensure that states were complying with federal voting laws and that all people had equal access to “ballots in federal elections.”
“States simply cannot pick and choose which federal laws they will comply with, including our voting laws, which ensure that all American citizens have equal access to the ballot in federal elections,” Dhillon said in a press release.
“American citizens have a right to feel confident in the integrity of our electoral process, and the refusal of certain states to protect their citizens against vote dilution will result in legal consequences,” read Dhillon’s statement.
Representatives for the secretary of state’s offices in Oregon and Maine told the Associated Press on Tuesday they had not yet received the lawsuit.
Oregon Secretary of State Tobias Read expressed concern over the DOJ’s request for voter information and said he would protect the privacy of his state’s residents. He threatened to sue the Trump administration over the request.
“If the President wants to use the DOJ to go after his political opponents and undermine our elections, I look forward to seeing them in court,” said Read in a statement. “I stand by my oath to the people of Oregon, and I will protect their rights and privacy.”
Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows called the initiative “absurd” and touted her state’s record in holding elections.
“Maine has some of the best elections in the nation,” said Bellows in a statement on Tuesday. “It is absurd that the Department of Justice is targeting our state when Republican and Democratic Secretaries all across the country are fighting back against this federal abuse of power just like we are.”
