06/02/2026
"In May 2025, the U.S. Justice Department began demanding that nearly every state and Washington, D.C. turn over election-related records, including complete statewide voter registration lists, ballots from past elections, and access to voting equipment. The requests also include sensitive personal information including partial Social Security numbers and driver's license numbers, raising the alarms for privacy and security concerns.
Voting rights advocates argue that the Trump administration’s demands infringe on the U.S. Constitution, which largely protects the power of states to manage elections and lay the groundwork for federal interference in voting. In response to the federal requests, most states have provided a publicly available version of their voter registration lists, which do not include Social Security numbers and driver’s license numbers; others have refused to comply altogether."
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"Of the at least 15 states that have either provided or agreed to provide their full voter files, including sensitive personal information, a majority are in the South: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas are among those that have turned over their complete voter rolls. In doing so, several states agreed to a "memorandum of understanding" with the DOJ, in which the DOJ outlined its plans to use the lists to purge voter rolls."
Election officials across the South are facing unprecedented demands from the Trump administration and Department of Justice for access to sensitive voter data, including Social Security and driver's license numbers, raising alarm among voting rights advocates ahead of the midterm elections.
