ACLU Fights DOJ Overreach to Protect Voter Privacy and Sensitive Data
The ACLU is leading a nationwide legal response to aggressive actions by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) seeking to compel states to hand over sensitive, private voter data.
In lawsuits across more than twenty jurisdictions, the DOJ has demanded full, unredacted voter rolls—including names, addresses, dates of birth, driver’s license numbers, and partial Social Security numbers—without clear explanation of how this sensitive data will be used or protected. These actions by the DOJ pose a profound threat to the privacy and security of voters’ personal information and risk its misuse by the federal government for mass disenfranchisement.
Representing voters and civil rights groups, the ACLU has moved to intervene or appeared as a “friend of the court” in over a dozen cases to stop these federal overreach efforts. The DOJ’s requests are unjustified, undermine state privacy protections, and could be used to justify aggressive voter roll challenges or purges that disenfranchise eligible voters. Across the country, ACLU attorneys are working to block or dismiss these demands and protect voters’ sensitive personal information.
By defending voter data against unwarranted federal collection, the ACLU aims to ensure that voters can participate in elections without fear that their information will be misused, exposed to hackers, or weaponized to repress turnout. These coordinated legal actions reaffirm the principle that states—and voters themselves—should control sensitive electoral information, not the federal government acting beyond its authority.
Learn more about our legal interventions and “friend-of-court” filings in: