DENVER — Today, Common Cause and 3 Colorado voters, represented by the ACLU Voting Rights Project and the ACLU of Colorado, filed a motion to intervene dans United States of States of America v. Griswold to prevent the Department of Justice (DOJ) from obtaining Colorado voters’ personal data.   

In May, the DOJ asked Colorado to turn over voters’ full names, dates of birth, addresses, driver’s license numbers, and partial Social Security numbers — this includes highly sensitive data that is protected under state and federal law. Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold previously shared only publicly available data in response to the requests but declined to share more sensitive data protected under the law.  

The intervenors argue that the DOJ’s request threatens voter privacy and could enable voter disenfranchisement. They are represented by attorneys from the American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Colorado. 

Other voters joining the case include a naturalized citizen from Cote d’Ivoire, Dr. Anne Keke who serves on the Aurora School Board, and Colorado Common Cause Advisory Board Chair Kyle Giddings, who previously served a felony sentence and had his right to vote restored in 2019 when Colorado passed legislation to re-enfranchise people with felony convictions after completing their sentence of confinement. These individuals have an interest in this case because their backgrounds place them at heightened risk of DOJ targeting, a threat that extends to countless other Colorado voters. 

This lawsuit follows months of back and forth between Griswold and the DOJ regarding Colorado’s state voter file. After federal officials acknowledged in November that the DOJ shared voter information with the Department of Homeland Security to search for noncitizens, Griswold led a group of other secretaries of state asking the department if it misled them about how voter information would be used.  

The filing highlights the threat that naturalized citizens and persons whose voting rights were restored after a felony conviction face of wrongly being flagged as ineligible voters.   

“Unelected bureaucrats in Washington have no business accessing Coloradans’ sensitive personal information,” said Aly Belknap, Common Cause’s Colorado Executive Director. “Handing this data over to the federal government violates the law and would put voters’ private information in the hands of dangerous election conspiracy peddlers. Common Cause is fighting to protect the rights of Colorado voters, and to prevent the potential misuse of their data.” 

“Voters in Colorado and across the country deserve to know their personal information is secure and used only for its intended purpose of maintaining accurate records,” said Maryam Jazini Dorcheh, Senior Director of Litigation at Common Cause. “We are committed to defending voters’ rights and privacy in Colorado and nationwide, and this case is one of many where we are stepping in to ensure those protections are upheld.”  

“Colorado’s safe, secure, and accessible elections form the backbone of our state’s democracy. The Trump administration’s overbroad demand for sensitive data, however, threatens to undermine voter trust and participation,” said Tim Macdonald, ACLU of Colorado legal director. “We will not tolerate this intimidation. We remain committed to protecting the rights and privacy of every voter.” 

“This is about protecting voters’ sensitive personal information,” said Theresa J. Lee, senior staff attorney with the ACLU Voting Rights Project. “The federal government is seeking unprecedented access to voter data while refusing to explain how it will be used, who will access it, or how it will be safeguarded. That secrecy creates an unacceptable risk that this information could be weaponized to target or disenfranchise eligible voters.” 

Common Cause previously filed a lawsuit in Nebraska to protect state voter data and has joined with the ACLU Voting Rights Project to file motions to intervene as defendants in DOJ lawsuits against New Mexico, Maryland, Rhode Island, Pennsylvanie, et Minnesota for failing to turn over their voters’ private data. 

To view the Colorado filing, Cliquez ici.