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Donald Trump's executive order requiring that voter registration forms include verification of citizenship may have been put on hold by the courts, but that hasn't stopped his lackey, Pam Bondi, from trying to muck around in state elections with an unprecedented demand for voter information. The Department of Justice sent letters to several states demanding information related to voter registration, voting systems, how noncitizens are identified, and how voter information is updated, and, in some cases, demanding access to voting machines themselves. Other White House officials have contacted county clerks directly to see if they would allow them access to their voting machines. Jeff Small, an official who said he worked for Stephen Miller, contacted ten county clerks in Colorado and told them that he was reaching out to Republican clerks in Democratic states to see if they'd willingly let them "review" their voting machines. Colorado's Secretary of State helpfully reminded Small, former chief of staff for Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO), that tampering with the voting systems is a felony.
The letters were signed by Harmeet Dhillon, who heads up the Civil Rights Division and is a former Trump campaign adviser, and were sent to Colorado, Nevada, Wisconsin, New Hampshire and other states demanding a copy of state voter rolls. State laws vary in how they handle access to voter registration information. In California, for example, the law allows candidates, parties, nonprofits and other agencies doing election work to access the information for a fee, though certain private information is redacted. In Wisconsin, any member of the public can access the information through a website—again, without certain private information, and for a fee. Here is a handy breakdown of how each state handles requests for voter registration information.
While some of this information may be public, the DoJ and the White House have not explained why they want it, given the limited role the federal government plays in election administration. The concern is that federal officials will use the information to kick some people off voter rolls and further disrupt elections by sowing confusion and chaos and undermining public confidence in the outcome. And the letter to Colorado was especially broad, leaving some to speculate that it was sent in retaliation for the prosecution of Tina Peters, the county clerk who was found guilty of helping an unauthorized person get access to voting equipment.
Thankfully, elections officials from both parties are not taking this power grab lying down. This is less about party politics and more about states' rights and federalism. Remember, in 2017, Mississippi's Republican Secretary of State famously told Trump officials who were demanding detailed voter information to "go jump in the Gulf of Mexico." Presumably, these days, he would tell Bondi and company to go jump in the Gulf of America, but the sentiment would no doubt be the same. The Center for Election Innovation and Research, whose executive director worked in the DoJ's voting section of the Civil Rights Division under Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, held a conference call with 350 state and local elections officials from 33 states to provide information about their rights, the dangers of federal intrusion into their systems, and how to respond.
So far, there has been limited cooperation, but Trump continues to flay the dead horse that is the 2020 election, and he has no shortage of underlings willing to keep the Big Lie going, especially if they need another distraction from Epsteinapalooza. So, we'll keep an eye on this. (L)