OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska’s Republican Secretary of State will hand over sensitive information about every registered voter in the state to the U.S. Department of Justice on Thursday after Nebraska’s highest court rejected a legal effort to block the move.
Secretary of State Bob Evnen told The Associated Press that the Nebraska Supreme Court rejected the injunction Wednesday.
Last week, a state judge dismissed a lawsuit filed by government watchdog Common Cause, which sought to stop the release of voter information, including birth dates, addresses and partial Social Security numbers, to the federal government.
“This case threatens the unprecedented and illegal release of highly sensitive information of every Nebraska voter,” attorneys for Common Cause wrote in a brief seeking the injunction. “Once the data is released, that bell cannot be ended.”
The legal battle in Nebraska comes after an FBI raid that saw him seize 2020 ballots and other election documents from Georgia’s Fulton County and President Donald Trump declaring that he wants to “take over” elections from Democratic-held areas with the November midterms on the horizon.
The federal Justice Department began last year pushing states to hand over their voter data and other election information. The department searched at least 23 states and the District of Columbia in its effort to obtain voter rolls.
Evnen said Wednesday that he is giving voter information to the Justice Department so it can assess whether Nebraska is complying with federal voting laws. He noted that the Nebraska Attorney General’s office had advised that the federal request “was legal and appropriate.”
His office will upload the information electronically to the Justice Department, he said, and will include a request to comply with privacy laws.
In a written statement issued by his office, Evnen said he is dedicated to protecting voters’ personally identifiable information from misuse.
But when asked if he was positive that Nebraska voter information would be kept secure and not lead to legitimate voters being removed from the voter rolls, Evnen replied, “The only thing I’m positive about is that the sun won’t catch on a tree when it goes down tonight.”
Evnen said that the state will not remove people from the voter lists based only on recommendations of the Department of Justice. Instead, election officials would conduct their own investigation and first contact anyone who was marked for removal from the rolls.
Earlier this week, a federal judge rejected the department’s effort to obtain Michigan’s voter rolls.
The Justice Department said it was seeking the data as part of an effort to ensure election security, but Democratic officials said the request violates state and federal privacy laws. Election officials have raised concerns that federal officials are trying to use the sensitive data for other purposes, such as searching for potential noncitizens on the rolls.
Elections in the United States are administered at the state and local level, where individual voter information is maintained.