Nevada sued by U.S. government for voter data

Audio By Carbonatix

(The Center Square) - The lawsuit filed by the U.S. Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division adds Nevada to a growing list of 18 states facing litigation over sensitive state voter data.

The suit comes after months of DOJ demands for complete state voting registration lists, which Nevada and other states have repeatedly denied and called intimidation in an effort to influence elections. President Donald Trump lost all 18 states in the 2020 election, with Nevada one of three states with Republican governors.

The Trump administration said in the filings that it would like to use the voting registrations to verify the states are following federal election law in an effort to strengthen voting security. 

Article I, Section 4 of the U.S. Constitution says states administer elections and determine their “Times, Places and Manner.” 

Nevada, along with most other states, had already denied a request to provide the sensitive voter data. The initial request by the DOJ Civil Rights Division in August called for complete voter registration lists – including Social Security numbers and information about driver’s licenses. Nevada Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar said at the time that the state needed more time to look over the “unprecedented” request.

“Despite our simple requests for information on how they’re going to keep this data secure, they’ve given us no clear answers,” Aguilar wrote in response to the suit filing announced Friday. “It’s my duty to follow Nevada law and protect the best interests of Nevadans, which includes protecting their sensitive information and access to the ballot.”

The DOJ Civil Rights Division announced similar suits in Colorado, Hawaii and Massachusetts on Friday. They also sued for 2020 voting records from Fulton County, Georgia after an ongoing election interference case against Trump and allies in the state was dismissed last month.

“At this Department of Justice, we will not permit states to jeopardize the integrity and effectiveness of elections by refusing to abide by our federal elections laws,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon, who oversees the DOJ's Civil Rights Division. “If states will not fulfill their duty to protect the integrity of the ballot, we will.”

Wyoming and Indiana provided complete voting registration lists with driver’s licenses and Social Security Numbers. Ten other states responded to the DOJ Civil Rights Division with publicly available versions of the voter registration lists, with the sensitive information redacted. 

Nevada had previously responded with a publicly available copy of their voter registration list. The DOJ Civil Rights Division lawsuit questioned the validity of the “purported” registration list and noted that it did not “include all fields.”

“While these requests may seem like normal oversight, the federal government is using its power to try to intimidate states and influence how states administer elections ahead of the 2026 cycle,” said Aguilar. “The Constitution makes it clear: Elections are run by the states. Nevada will continue to run safe, secure and accessible elections, and I’ll always stand up for the rights of our voters.”

The Civil Rights Division suit accused Nevada of violations of the National Voter Registration Act, Help America Vote Act and the Civil Rights Act.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada has in turn filed suit to intervene in the case on Sunday. 

“Unchecked government power places us on a pathway to living under authoritarian rule,”  ACLU Nevada Executive Director Athar Haseebullah said in a news release Tuesday. “ACLU of Nevada will continue to challenge these practices to ensure the privacy rights of our members and Nevadans more broadly. Our Constitution was designed to protect people from the government, not empower the government to undermine the rights of the people."