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Texas officials have turned over the state鈥檚 voter roll to the U.S. Justice Department, according to a spokesperson for the Texas Secretary of State鈥檚 Office, complying with the Trump administration鈥檚 demands for access to data on millions of voters across the country.
The Justice Department last fall began asking for their voter rolls 鈥� massive lists containing significant identifying information on every registered voter in each state 鈥� and other election-related data. The Justice Department has said the effort is central to its mission of enforcing election law requiring by searching for and removing ineligible voters.
Alicia Pierce, a spokesperson for the Texas Secretary of State鈥檚 Office, told Votebeat and The Texas Tribune that the state had sent its voter roll, which includes information on the approximately 18.4 million voters registered in Texas, to the Justice Department on Dec. 23.
The state included identifiable information about voters, including dates of birth, driver鈥檚 license numbers and the last four digits of their Social Security numbers, Pierce said.
Experts and state officials around the country over the legality of the Justice Department鈥檚 effort to obtain states鈥� voter rolls and whether it could compromise voter privacy protections. The Justice Department has said it is entitled to the data under federal law, and withholding it interferes with its ability to exercise oversight and enforce federal election laws.
The department has , for declining to voluntarily turn over their voter rolls. Those states, which include some led by officials of both political parties, have generally argued that states are responsible for voter registration and are barred by state and federal law from sharing certain private information about voters. In an , Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon said 13 states, including Texas, had voluntarily agreed to turn over their voter rolls.
In to Nelson dated Friday and obtained by Votebeat and The Texas Tribune, the Democratic National Committee said the move to hand over the voter roll could violate federal election law.
DNC Chair Ken Martin said the turnover of such data is tantamount to a 鈥渂ig government power grab鈥� and would invite privacy violations and could result in eligible voters being kicked off the rolls. The DNC, he said in a statement, "won't stand idly by as the Trump DOJ tries to get access to Texas voters鈥� sensitive information."
In its letter, Daniel Freeman, the DNC鈥檚 litigation director, requested records related to the Justice Department鈥檚 request, and warned the party could take further action.
Some election officials and voting rights watchdog groups have raised concerns about what the Justice Department intends to do with the information provided by the states, with some suggesting it may be used to create .
Votebeat and The Texas Tribune have asked the Texas Secretary of State鈥檚 Office for a signed copy of the agreement between the state and the Justice Department, known as a memorandum of understanding, governing how the sharing of the voter data would work and steps the state has agreed to take in response to any questions about voter eligibility raised by the Justice Department. The state has not yet released it.
In sent to Wisconsin officials last month and publicly released by state officials, the Justice Department said that upon receiving the state鈥檚 voter data, it would check the state鈥檚 voter roll for 鈥渓ist maintenance issues, insufficiencies, anomalies or concerns.鈥� The department would then notify the state and give it 45 days to correct any problems. The state would then agree to resubmit the voter roll to the department. Wisconsin declined the agreement, and the Justice Department has sued the state.
In his letter to Nelson, Freeman identified two potential legal violations associated with some of those clauses, though acknowledged he didn鈥檛 yet know whether Texas had signed such an agreement and asked for records.
Freeman wrote that the 45-day removal period as laid out in the public versions of the memorandum would run afoul of a provision in the National Voter Registration Act that lays out specific conditions, such as having missed two elections after receiving a notice from the state, for states to remove registered voters from the rolls.
Freeman also wrote that federal law also bars states from doing systemic voter removals from the rolls within 90 days of a primary or general election. Because Texas has an upcoming March 3 primary, May 26 runoff and Nov. 3 general election, the state cannot conduct such list maintenance until after the runoff, Freeman wrote. The 90-day moratorium would then kick in again on Aug. 6, ahead of the November election.
Texas agreed to the memorandum of understanding and released the data, but that it did so with the understanding it wouldn鈥檛 鈥渓imit or affect the duties, responsibilities, and rights鈥� of the state under either the NVRA or other federal laws, according to the Texas Secretary of State鈥檚 Office sent the Justice Department in December and released to Votebeat and The Texas Tribune.
Natalia Contreras is a reporter for Votebeat in partnership with the Texas Tribune. Contact Natalia at ncontreras@votebeat.org.
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