The US Department of Justice has filed new federal lawsuits against the District of Columbia, Georgia, Illinois, and Wisconsin for refusing to provide complete voter registration lists as required under federal law.
The new filings announced Thursday by the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division, bring the total number of jurisdictions sued to 22 nationwide. At the same time, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Tennessee informed the department they intend to voluntarily comply with the federal request, raising the number of states either fully compliant or in the process of compliance to 10.
Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon, who leads the Civil Rights Division, said the lawsuits are about enforcing long-standing federal election laws and ensuring accurate voter rolls. “The law is clear: states need to give us this information, so we can do our duty to protect American citizens from vote dilution,” Dhillon said. “Regardless of which party is in charge of a particular state, the Department of Justice will firmly stand on the side of election integrity and transparency.”
