Democratic state election officials demand answers on Justice Department's requests for voter data

PORTLAND, Ore. — Ten Democratic secretaries of state asked the Trump administration Tuesday to provide more information about its wide-ranging efforts to seek statewide voter registration lists, citing concerns that federal agencies have apparently misled them and might be entering the data in a program used to verify U.S. citizenship.

In a letter sent to Attorney General Pam Bondi and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, the secretaries of state expressed ''immense concern'' over reports that the Justice Department has shared voter data from states with the Department of Homeland Security.

''Given the unprecedented nature and scope of the DOJ's requests, we require additional information about how this information will be used, shared, and secured,'' they wrote.

In response to a request for comment, the Justice Department shared a previous statement from Harmeet Dhillon, who leads the DOJ's Civil Rights Division. ''Clean voter rolls and basic election safeguards are requisites for free, fair, and transparent elections," she stated. "The DOJ Civil Rights Division has a statutory mandate to enforce our federal voting rights laws, and ensuring the voting public's confidence in the integrity of our elections is a top priority of this administration.''

The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.

The Republican administration's request for detailed voter data this year has become a major point of contention with Democratic states, with the 2026 midterm elections on the horizon. The Justice Department has asked at least 26 states, including some led by Republicans, for the data in recent months and has sued eight for the information. At the same time, voting rights groups have sued the administration, arguing that recent updates to a federal tool for verifying citizenship could result in voters being unlawfully purged from voter lists.

Some states have sent redacted versions of their voter lists that are available to the public or declined the requests for voter data, citing their own state laws or the Justice Department's failure to fulfill federal Privacy Act obligations. But the Justice Department has on multiple occasions expressly demanded copies that contain personally identifiable information, including voter names, birth dates, addresses and driver's license numbers or partial Social Security numbers.

In their letter, the 10 election officials said federal officials ''shared misleading and at times contradictory information'' in two recent meetings arranged by the National Association of Secretaries of State.

During an August meeting, a Justice Department official said the agency intended to use the voter information to make sure states were maintaining their voter lists in compliance with two federal voting laws.

But the following month, according to the letter, the Department of Homeland Security said it had received voter data and would enter it into a federal program used to verify citizenship status. That was despite a Homeland Security official telling secretaries of state during a September meeting that the department had not received voter data or requested it, the letter said.

The SAVE program, or Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements, is run by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, part of the Department of Homeland Security. It has been around for decades and been used widely by local and state officials to check the citizenship status of people applying for public benefits by running them through a variety of federal databases.

DHS and Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency updated the SAVE program earlier this year, according to public announcements. They made it free for election officials, allowed agencies to search voters by the thousands instead of one at a time and began permitting queries using names, birthdays and Social Security numbers, as opposed to requiring DHS-issued identification numbers.

''DHS told Secretaries of State that they would not use — or have use for — voter information. Does DHS continue to stand by this assertion given public reporting and statements that appear to contradict those statements?'' the letter asks.

Other questions focused on the confidentiality and security measures being taken to protect the data, and how federal agencies are complying with privacy laws.