President Donald Trump's Department of Justice released a stunning memo on Tuesday night claiming that Trump has the authority to take state voter rolls — a claim that directly contradicts several federal court rulings finding the DOJ has no such authority.
The memo was released at a time when Trump's efforts to obtain voter rolls have been repeatedly stifled by the courts. The Justice Department has sued 30 states and the District of Columbia for refusing to provide unredacted voter rolls containing sensitive information like driver's licenses and partial Social Security numbers. Federal judges in California, Michigan, and Oregon have all ruled against the DOJ, finding it lacks statutory authority to compel states to turn over voter data.
Trump recently dispatched FBI agents to Fulton County, Georgia, to collect more than 600 boxes of data related to the 2020 general election, including the county's voter rolls. The FBI executed a search warrant at the Fulton County Election Hub in January.
In the memo, the DOJ argued that Trump's efforts to obtain voter rolls are part of his obligation to "preserve and protect the integrity of the American electoral process."
"We conclude that federal law authorizes the Division to compel states to produce their statewide voter registration lists regardless of whether the Division intends to share them with [Homeland Security Investigations] or another unit within DHS so that DHS may cross-check them against existing databases," the memo reads in part, citing the attorney general's investigative authority, the Civil Rights Act, and Congress's limited participation in the election process.
"In sum, we conclude that section 303 of the Civil Rights Act authorizes the Division to seek statewide voter registration lists from states," the memo adds. "Moreover, the Privacy Act, Driver’s Privacy Protection Act, and E-Government Act do not limit that authority. Finally, no other legal restriction impedes the Division from sharing the lists with DHS as part of its effort to identify individuals who are ineligible to vote, including—in DHS’s specific jurisdiction—illegal aliens."
The DOJ's claim of authority comes despite federal courts repeatedly finding the department lacks the legal basis to demand the data. Voting rights groups sued the DOJ on April 21 to block what they describe as a sprawling new voter surveillance and purging apparatus. At least 13 states — all led by Republicans — have voluntarily provided their full voter rolls, while more than two dozen Democratic-led states have refused.