"Last year, the U.S. Department of Justice sued California, along with 22 other states and Washington, D.C., for access to their full, unredacted voter files. That includes driver's license, social security numbers and other sensitive data. DOJ officials said they needed the data to assess whether states were properly maintaining their voter rolls and ensuring "only American citizens are voting, only one time," as Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon said in a social media post in December."
"In Judge Carter's ruling, he wrote that amassing sensitive information at the federal level would have a chilling effect on voter registration, which would lead to decreased turnout "as voters fear that their information is being used for some inappropriate or unlawful purpose." He added, "This risk threatens the right to vote which is the cornerstone of American democracy.""
The U.S. Department of Justice sued California and 22 other states plus Washington, D.C., seeking access to full, unredacted voter files that include driver's license numbers, Social Security numbers and other sensitive data. DOJ officials said the data were needed to assess whether states properly maintain voter rolls and ensure only American citizens vote once. California refused, citing state and federal privacy laws, and only a handful of states complied, according to the Brennan Center for Justice. Judge Carter found that centralizing sensitive data federally would chill voter registration, decrease turnout, and threaten the right to vote. Separately, the Santa Barbara City Council approved a temporary rent freeze in a 4-3 vote, locking rents at mid-December 2025 levels while officials pursue permanent rent stabilization.
Read at Kqed
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]