Trump administration denied access to Georgia voter rolls

A federal judge in Georgia dismissed the Justice Department's lawsuit seeking unredacted voter data, including dates of birth and Social Security numbers, ruling that federal law does not preempt Georgia's voter privacy statute. Judge Victoria Marie Calvert noted Georgia had already complied by providing registration data with sensitive fields redacted.

The Justice Department argued it needed the information to cross-check against a Homeland Security database and catch duplicate, moved, or deceased registrants. Calvert found federal law imposes only procedural requirements on states to remove ineligible voters, not a duty to disclose sensitive personal data.

The ruling is one of more than two dozen losses for the administration in similar suits against states, while at least 16 states have fully complied, per the Brennan Center for Justice. Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, who previously rebuffed Trump's 2020 election claims, said he would not break the law for anyone; Georgia removed nearly 471,000 inactive registrations last year.

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