Litige
Donald Trump believes that his ticket to permanent power is to single out and silence anyone he doesn’t think will support him – including people of color and naturalized citizens who have worked hard to earn their right to vote.
That’s why his Department of Justice has made an unprecedented effort to collect sensitive voter data from state governments across the country, data that can include information such as full names, addresses, dates of birth, and driver’s license numbers and/or social security numbers.
Make no mistake – these efforts are unlawful and put people’s ability to vote at risk. Trump is expecting MAGA loyalists in state after state to carry out his plot, but Common Cause and our partners are determined to stop it. That’s why our legal team is filing cases and taking bold action to stop them in their tracks.
Common Cause has 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 Arizona, Hawai’i, Colorado, Géorgie, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Wisconsin, et Washington D.C. to protect voters’ sensitive data.
These fights aren’t isolated – we’re up against a coordinated, multi-state effort to silence our voices. If the Trump administration can create a master list of state voter data, it could be misused, hacked, or weaponized for political gain. That’s why we’re in court to stop this, protecting your privacy and your vote.
States have private, individual voter rolls for a reason.
The safest way to keep sensitive data is to limit who has access to it, ensuring that only people that absolutely need to can see the information. The National Voter Registration Act and the Help America Vote Act assign the responsibility of maintaining voter roles to the states, not the federal government.
That’s because a lot of things could go wrong if the federal government were to keep one centralized voter database. For one, sensitive information would be at a much higher risk for cybersecurity attacks.
But it would also open the door to abuses by our own government. It could be used to conduct strategic and widespread purges of eligible voters from voter rolls, or handed over to a pseudo-agency like DOGE, which could use the information to do major damage with little-to-no oversight.
And given the Department of Homeland Security’s cruel attacks on immigrants and communities of color, regardless of their citizenship status, a potential federal database like this poses even greater risk – already, the DOJ has acknowledged that it is sharing voter information with the DHS. Knowing that the federal government has collected a database of sensitive information could intimidate potential voters from these communities and prevent them from registering to vote.
We’ve joined forces with the ACLU Voting Rights Project and its state chapters to file motions to intervene in several lawsuits to prevent the DOJ from obtaining sensitive voter data.
What does this mean? Well, last year, the DOJ sued several states after their state leaders refused to hand over their private voter files. Common Cause and our partners are now stepping in to help stop these lawsuits and protect voter data.
We’re also joined by several naturalized citizens and formerly disenfranchised voters who are concerned that their right to vote is at risk.
In our latest cases – Arizona, Hawai’i, et Illinois – we’re fighting the same dangerous demand from Trump’s Department of Justice: a push for states to turn over their full voter rolls, including names, addresses, and partial Social Security and driver’s license numbers.
These lawsuits brought by the DOJ show that the Trump administration is committed to doubling down on their unlawful attempts to obtain sensitive voter information.
But the good news is that Common Cause and our partners aren’t backing down either. We’ve joined forces in these states to file similar motions to intervene in the DOJ’s latest attempt to infringe on our privacy and civil rights.
These attempts to build an unlawful national voter database are the latest in a long series of attacks on voters by the Trump administration.
Whether it’s by spreading misinformation about voter fraud, pushing bills like the proposed SAVE Act that would threaten millions’ ability to vote, or sending troops into American cities, one thing is abundantly clear: Trump considers intimidation et suppression des électeurs to be his best pathway to continued power.
That’s why instead of protecting access to health care and working to make life more affordable for American families, he’s focused on trying to strong-arm state governments for sensitive data, gerrymander voting districts to get more Republican congressional seats, and spread terror in communities of color by conducting violent ICE raids.
Whether the 2026 midterm elections are truly fair and free depends on whether we can successfully stop these unlawful attempts to build a federal voter database.
If Trump and his administration succeed, many voters may either be purged from the voter rolls or be too intimidated by the threat of the DHS’s access to their information to register themselves to vote.
Midterm elections are the people’s chance to put checks on the Executive Branch, especially in times like these of extreme overreach by the White House. It is immensely troubling that so many voters, especially those who are the most heavily impacted by the Trump administration’s policies, may be unable to exercise that right.
While this is all cause for concern, there is a reason to be hopeful – Common Cause has already secured a win during our fight in Nebraska.
We filed a lawsuit to block Nebraska Secretary of State Bob Evnen from handing over his state’s voter data to the DOJ. Already, Nebraska’s solicitor general has confirmed that the secretary of state will not release any voter information to the DOJ while our lawsuit is pending. As a result, the voter data will be safe for at least a few months while litigation proceeds.
As we fight legal battles to protect voter data around the country, we are confident that the law is clear: these requests violate key voting laws and cannot be allowed to move forward.
We’re proud of the strength, speed, and strategy our legal team is bringing to these cases – and even prouder to have supporters like you standing with us at this moment.
To stay updated on a case in your state, you can sign up to receive updates from us and visit the page for your state’s Common Cause chapter.
Common Cause has been fighting for a government by and for the people for over 50 years, and we’re not stopping now. In fact, we’re fighting harder than ever before.
As Trump and his administration tries to attack our democracy and strip people of their right to vote, it is more important than ever to band together and stand up for our civil rights. With you by our side, we’ll be fighting for what’s right in the courtroom, in the press, and in our communities.
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