BALTIMORE, Md. – Attorney General Anthony G. Brown today co-led a coalition of 16 attorneys general in filing an amicus brief supporting California’s motion to dismiss a federal lawsuit demanding complete, unredacted voter registration databases from states across the country.
The brief, filed in United States v. Shirley Weber, et al. in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, argues that the federal government’s demand is part of a larger effort to aggregate personal information, collected by states, about the people who live in the country. The brief points out, though, that the federal government lacks legal authority to compel states to turn over sensitive voter data and that such demands violate both the Constitution’s protection of state authority over elections and federal privacy laws.
“Maryland voters deserve to cast ballots without worrying that their registration information will be mishandled,” said Attorney General Brown. “The administration’s unlawful demands threaten both individual privacy and our collective confidence in our elections. We won’t allow federal overreach to undermine voting rights or discourage participation in our democracy.”…