Federal judge dismisses Trump admin’s lawsuit attempting to obtain sensitive Georgia voter data

A federal judge on Wednesday dismissed the Justice Department’s lawsuit against Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger over the federal government’s attempt to obtain the state’s complete voter rolls.The lawsuit was part of the Trump administration’s wide-ranging efforts to obtain states’ voter rolls, including sensitive information from the voter rolls such as voters’ birthdates, addresses and driver’s license numbers.
U.S. District Judge Victoria Marie Calvert ruled that the federal government’s attempt to access the information violated state law, which dictates that data collected about voters needs to remain confidential, according to CBS News.
Calvert said although the Justice Department was using Title III of the Civil Rights Act to demand the information, the CRA did not supersede state law or apply to all records, just public information.
“Based on the text of the CRA … there is no explicit manifestation of Congress’s intent to preempt states’ voter privacy laws,” Calvert wrote.
Raffensperger, who was the only Republican to decline to produce the full voter rolls, said he has released the public part of the voter rolls but that the government did not meet the conditions required to release the personal information.
“I will always protect the sensitive personal information of Georgians, in accordance with the law and the Constitution,” Raffensperger said in a statement following the ruling. “I will not give in and break the law for anyone. Period.”
Georgia’s case is the latest that the Trump administration has lost in its effort to receive complete voting lists. Four cases remain pending, in Delaware, Hawaii, Idaho and Utah.
Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.

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