Feb. 27 (UPI) -- The Justice Department has sued another five states, including three led by Republicans, for their unredacted voter registration lists, amid the Trump administration's the information ahead of November's midterms.
The Trump administration has now sued 29 states and the District of Columbia for voter information, heightening Democrats' concerns that it is seeking to meddle in the elections.
The five states sued Thursday were Utah, Oklahoma, Kentucky, West Virginia and New Jersey. The litigation effort has so far disproportionately targeted Democratic-led states, with Utah, Oklahoma and West Virginia among the few GOP-led states sued for their voter registration lists.
Attorney General Pam Bondi argues she is charged by Congress with authority to request the sensitive election data under the Civil Rights Act of 1960, though courts have ruled against the government in the three cases that have reached decisions: California in mid-January and Michigan and Oregon earlier this month.
Courts that have so far rejected Bondi's argument found either that she lacks the authority to compel disclosure of the unredacted voter lists, as in Oregon, or the laws she cites do not permit the government to obtain them, as in Michigan. The judge in the California case also ruled her demand "stands to have a chilling effect on American citizens like political minority groups and working-class immigrants" worried about how their information will be used.
