The Trump administration and lawyers for New Hampshire’s Secretary of State squared off in a federal court on Tuesday over the fate of sensitive voter information.
Last fall, the U.S. Department of Justice demanded New Hampshire turn over a statewide database containing voter files, saying it needed to allegedly confirm the state’s compliance with federal voter protection laws, including portions of the Civil Rights Act. While certain information about voters, including their names, addresses and party affiliation, are already publicly available in New Hampshire, the Trump administration requested access to voters’ partial Social Security numbers, as well as state driver’s license numbers.
New Hampshire law generally prohibits the disclosure of the statewide voter database, but the federal government said it needs full access to ensure the state is accurately maintaining its voter rolls.
When New Hampshire Secretary of State David Scanlan refused to comply, the Trump Administration filed a lawsuit. Inside a Concord courtroom on Tuesday, lawyers for the state asked Judge Joseph Laplante to dismiss the case, arguing that there was no legitimate basis for the federal government’s request for confidential data.
Mary Triick, an attorney for the state, said the administration's request was “outside the limits” of federal oversight and that the government had provided no purpose for sharing the records.
U.S. Department of Justice attorney John Casali countered that the federal government is required to ensure states including New Hampshire are conducting appropriate safeguards to ensure accurate voter rolls. “That is a valid purpose,” Casali told the judge.
The lawsuit filed against New Hampshire is one of approximately 20 similar suits the Trump administration is pursuing across the country. While it isn’t clear what the government may do with the records it is seeking, President Trump has continued to repeat falsehoods about the prevalence of voter fraud in the country.
Last week, a federal judge in Maine dismissed a similar lawsuit filed over access to its voter files, ruling the Trump administration had not adequately explained why it needs the records.
In New Hampshire, a bipartisan group of voters, including former state Rep. Neal Kurk, a Republican known for his advocacy of privacy rights, as well as Louise Spencer, a progressive activist, joined the lawsuit, arguing that the federal government should not be granted access to sensitive voter data.
David Fox, a lawyer representing those residents, said in court that the federal government “needs to provide factual allegations” if it is concerned the state is violating any voter protections, something the defendants say the Trump administration has so far failed to do.
Casali countered that the federal government is concerned about New Hampshire's ability to flag duplicate voters, and that if there are concerns about the security of any information that “the United States is happy to work with the court on a remedy.”
Judge Laplante did not issue an immediate ruling on the case.
Along with the recent victory in Maine, courts in California, Michigan and Oregon have also dismissed the Trump administration's demands for voter files.
