Voting and civil rights groups have filed a lawsuit against Alaska election officials, alleging that sharing the state's full voter registration list with the U.S. Department of Justice violates the state constitution. The lawsuit, filed in state court by the League of Women Voters of Alaska and the Alaska Black Caucus, claims the data transfer infringes on voters' right to privacy and due process.
Alaska is one of at least 12 states that have provided detailed voter information, including dates of birth, driver's licence numbers or partial Social Security numbers, to the Trump administration. The lawsuit argues that a memorandum of understanding with the DOJ allows the department to flag voters for removal without proper notice or a chance for voters to challenge those decisions.
The defendants are Republican Lieutenant Governor Nancy Dahlstrom, who oversees the Division of Elections, and division director Carol Beecher. A spokesperson for the division referred requests for comment to the Alaska Department of Law, which did not immediately respond.
The Justice Department has sued at least 30 states and the District of Columbia to obtain voter data, but judges have rejected those efforts in several states, including California, Massachusetts and Rhode Island. In the Rhode Island case, DOJ attorneys acknowledged the data could be shared with the Department of Homeland Security to check citizenship status.
The plaintiffs are represented by the American Civil Liberties Union of Alaska, the ACLU Voting Rights Project and the Electronic Privacy Information Center. They are asking the court to void the agreement and require the elections division to make reasonable efforts to ensure the destruction of any copies of the shared data.
