The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division has filed lawsuits against six states—Delaware, Maryland, New Mexico, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington—for not providing their statewide voter registration lists as required by federal law.
Attorney General Pamela Bondi stated, "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. The Department of Justice will continue filing proactive election integrity litigation until states comply with basic election safeguards."
Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Civil Rights Division said, "Our federal elections laws ensure every American citizen may vote freely and fairly. 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. At this Department of Justice, we will not stand for this open defiance of federal civil rights laws."
The lawsuits argue that the Attorney General is responsible for enforcing the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) and the Help America Vote Act (HAVA), which require states to maintain proper voter registration systems. The Civil Rights Act of 1960 also allows the Attorney General to request access to these statewide lists for inspection and analysis.
