[PORTLAND, ME] – On behalf of the League of Women Voters of Maine, the Campaign Legal Center filed a motion to intervene late September as a defendant in a lawsuit brought by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to obtain a complete list of all registered voters in Maine without proper basis and purpose. The DOJ is attempting to obtain voters’ sensitive data, including private information such as driver’s license numbers or partial Social Security numbers—data beyond what’s typically publicly available.
On October 24, the League of Women Voters of New York State—represented by Campaign Legal Center and the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law—filed a motion in a similar case, where the DOJ is seeking the same data regarding New York voters.
"Maine elections are safe, secure, transparent, and accessible," said Jill Ward, President of the League of Women Voters of Maine. "The action initiated by the Department of Justice to access voter data would only serve to erode trust in the democratic process. It would needlessly compromise voter privacy and open the door to abuse of these sensitive records. We are committed to protecting Maine voters’ information and preserving the integrity of Maine elections."
The DOJ has a responsibility to protect the freedom to vote, but its recent actions would infringe upon these freedoms. The DOJ’s improper overreach into Maine data at the behest of the Trump administration would not make our elections any safer or more secure. It could instead jeopardize voters’ personal information and discourage them from participating in the democratic process.
As recent reporting shows, this threat to voters is compounded by the potential for this requested information to be misused by other agencies, including the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for immigration enforcement.
Maine elections already have numerous safeguards in place to make sure only US citizens participate—a responsibility that election officials take seriously.
Our democracy is strongest when every eligible voter can exercise their freedom to vote, and the League of Women Voters of Maine and the Campaign Legal Center intend to work together to protect that freedom.