Dec. 3 (UPI) — The Trump administration is suing another six states — five with Democratic leadership and one with a Republican governor — on accusations of violating federal law by refusing to hand over their voter registration rolls.
The lawsuits filed Tuesday by the Justice Department ask the court to force Delaware, Maryland, New Mexico, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington to hand over their voter registration lists.
With the lawsuits, the Trump administration is suing 14 states, the majority led by Democrats, for their lists.
According to the Brennan Center for Justice, the Justice Department has demanded copies of their statewide voter registration files, which contain confidential and sensitive information, from at least 40 states.
The demands have raised concerns and allegations from voting-rights advocates that the Trump administration is seeking to undermine elections. Immigration advocates have also raised alarms after it was sharing the lists with the Department of Homeland Security.
The Trump administration argues it is seeking the lists to ensure the integrity of U.S. elections. President Donald Trump has repeatedly stated the unfounded claim that the 2020 election, which he lost to President Joe Biden, was stolen from him.
“Accurate voter rolls are the cornerstone of fair and free elections, and too many states have fallen into a pattern of noncompliance with basic voter roll maintenance,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said Tuesday in a statement.
“The Department of Justice will continue filing proactive election integrity litigation until states comply with basic election safeguards.”
The lawsuits allege that by refusing the Justice Department’s demands they are violating the National Voter Registration Act, the Help America Vote Act and the Civil Rights Act of 1960.
“States that continue to defy federal voting laws interfere with our mission of ensuring that Americans have accurate voter lists as they go to the polls, that every vote counts equally and that all voters have confidence in election results,” Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division said.
“At the Justice Department, we will not stand for this open defiance of federal civil rights law.”
Federal prosecutors filed lawsuits against California, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, New Hampshire and Pennsylvania in late September, about 10 days after it sued Oregon and Maine.
All states but Vermont and New Hampshire are run by Democratic governors.