Last Thursday, the U.S. Department of Justice shared that they are allowing the Department of Homeland Security to access sensitive voter information to search for non-citizen voters. However, a DOJ judge denied the creation of a national voter database.
So far, three federal judges have vetoed the demand for state voter rolls. A judge has yet to side with the DOJ’s requests. Oral debates are to be heard later this spring.
When asked whether the DOJ could send the list to DHS to search for noncitizens, DOJ attorney Eric Neff said they intend to do so.
The DOJ says that they need the voter data to make sure that states are complying with federal voting rights laws, which require states to regularly update their voter rolls. The DOJ has said they have special interest in removing illegal voters.
Although the DHS told Stateline about the collaboration with the DOJ back in September, this is the first on-record mention of the data sharing.
Early last year, during the administration change, the DHS used an online program that was previously used to determine if illegal immigrants qualified for government aid, and turned it into a way to verify U.S. citizenship. The program is called the Saving on Valuable Education plan, SAVE, and the DHS is encouraging states to use it to check their voter ID rolls.
Some are concerned that the software will wrongly flag citizens, which has happened before.
Author: Lainey Porter
Photo: Spenser Heaps, Utah News Dispatch
Editor: Hannah Clove
news@suunews.net