The Trump administration wants driver’s license numbers and the last four digits of social security numbers for all of Colorado’s registered voters, and on Thursday, they sued the Colorado Secretary of State to get it.
In the eight-page complaint filed in U.S. District Court for Colorado, the Department of Justice cited a 1962 Civil Rights-era precedent saying they were owed all “records and papers which come into their possession relating to any application, registration … requisite to voting in such election.”
The Justice Department at that time was suing to prevent southern states from systematically excluding Black residents from voter rolls. It’s less clear what the Trump administration is trying to accomplish with Thursday’s suit.
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi’s office noted that it received a complaint alleging “noncompliance” of Griswold’s office with the duties outlined in the National Voter Registration Act.
Federal lawyers said the National Voter Registration Act requires states to make reasonable efforts to remove the names of ineligible voters from official lists by reason of death or change in the residence of the registrant, according to the complaint. Colorado regularly purges its voter lists of people who have died.
Thursday’s lawsuit is a culmination of months of back and forth between Democratic Secretary of State Jena Griswold and the DOJ regarding sensitive voter information from Colorado residents.
Bondi’s lawyers said in Thursday’s filing that they are trying to enforce various election statutes, including the Civil Rights Act, the National Voter Registration Act and the Help America Vote Act. In conducting these probes, they need the state to “be in compliance with federal election law.”
They noted the DOJ has sweeping power to obtain these records.
On May 12, the federal government sent a written demand to Griswold to produce specific election records. The only two pieces of information that aren’t a part of the public record — and are therefore deemed “sensitive” — are the last four digits of a voter’s social security number and their driver’s license number.
Griswold has declined to provide that information and, on Dec. 3, responded that Colorado voters’ private information would be safeguarded.
“We will not hand over Coloradans’ sensitive voting information to Donald Trump,” Griswold said Thursday in a statement. “I will continue to protect our elections and democracy and look forward to winning this case.”
State Attorney General Phil Weiser, whose office’s attorneys will fight this case, said he will not be “bullied” by the Trump’s DOJ’s “lawless actions.”
The federal government has asked the district court to order Griswold to hand over the requested data within five days of a court order.
The case has been assigned to Chief Judge Philip Brimmer, according to court documents.
| This story is part of a collection tracking the impacts of President Donald Trump’s second administration on the lives of everyday Coloradans. Since taking office, Trump has overhauled nearly every aspect of the federal government; journalists from CPR News, KRCC and Denverite are staying on top of what that means for you. Read more here. |
