{"id":1984,"date":"2025-12-23T13:12:00","date_gmt":"2025-12-23T18:12:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/georgia\/?post_type=press&p=1984"},"modified":"2025-12-23T13:13:34","modified_gmt":"2025-12-23T18:13:34","slug":"voting-rights-groups-georgia-voter-seek-to-protect-voters-privacy","status":"publish","type":"press","link":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/georgia\/press\/voting-rights-groups-georgia-voter-seek-to-protect-voters-privacy\/","title":{"rendered":"Voting Rights Groups, Georgia Voter Seek to Protect Voters\u2019 Privacy"},"template":"","class_list":["post-1984","press","type-press","status-publish","hentry","press_type-press-release"],"acf":{"details":{"summary":"Lawsuit challenges DOJ demand for sensitive voter data ","featured_image":"","press_type":145,"authors":"","related_issues":[400],"related_work":false,"location":13},"sidebar":{"helper_enable_sidebar":false,"helper_media_contact":{"heading":"Media Contact","manually_enter_person":false,"person":["{\"site_id\":\"1\",\"post_type\":\"person\",\"post_id\":7806}"],"name":"","role":"","phone":"","email":""},"helper_links_downloads":{"heading":"Links & Downloads","links":null}},"page_layout":[{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_wysiwyg","_acfe_flexible_toggle":null,"component_wysiwyg":{"content":"GEORGIA\u2014Today,<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/b>the ACLU National Voting Rights Project, the ACLU of Georgia,\u00a0and\u00a0the Southern Poverty Law Center filed a motion to intervene\u00a0on\u00a0behalf of Common Cause and its Georgia Executive Director, Rosario Palacios, in\u00a0<\/span>United States v. Raffensperger\u00a0<\/span><\/i>to prevent the Department of Justice from obtaining Georgia voters\u2019 personal data.<\/span>\r\n\r\nIn August, the DOJ asked Georgia to turn over voters\u2019 full names, dates of birth, addresses, driver\u2019s license numbers, and partial Social Security numbers \u2014 highly sensitive data that is protected under state and federal law. Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger appropriately declined to share this sensitive data.<\/span>\r\n\r\nThe filing highlights that when voters provide personal information to the State as part of the registration process, they trust that information will not be abused, their privacy will be respected, and their right to\u00a0participate\u00a0will be honored. Yet the DOJ\u2019s secrecy surrounding how this data will be used and protected breaks that trust and\u00a0risks\u00a0mass\u00a0disenfranchisement, particularly among vulnerable populations like naturalized citizens.<\/span>\r\n\r\nRosario Palacios, a naturalized U.S. citizen, is also represented in the case.\u00a0Palacios\u00a0has an interest in this case because\u00a0her\u00a0status as a naturalized citizen may place\u00a0her\u00a0at a heightened risk of being targeted for voter disenfranchisement, a threat that extends to countless other\u00a0Georgia\u00a0voters.<\/span>\r\n\r\n\u201cUnelected bureaucrats in Washington have no business accessing Georgia voter\u2019s sensitive personal information,\u201d\u00a0<\/span>said Rosario Palacios, Common Cause\u2019s Georgia Executive Director.<\/span><\/b>\u00a0\u201cHanding this data over to the federal government violates the law and would put voters\u2019\u00a0private information\u00a0in the hands of dangerous election conspiracy peddlers. Common Cause is fighting to protect the rights of Georgia voters and to prevent the potential misuse of their data.\u201d<\/span>\r\n\r\n\u201cVoters in Georgia and across the country deserve to know their personal information is secure and used only for its intended purpose of maintaining accurate records,\u201d\u00a0<\/span>said Maryam Jazini\u00a0Dorcheh, Senior Director of Litigation at Common Cause<\/span><\/b>. \u201cWe are committed to defending voters\u2019 rights and privacy in Georgia and nationwide, and this case is one of many where we are stepping in to ensure those protections are upheld.\u201d<\/span>\r\n\r\n\"Georgians have a fundamental right to vote without fearing that their most sensitive personal information will be exposed or misused, and the DOJ's refusal to explain how this data will be used or protected is deeply concerning,\u201d said\u00a0<\/span>William Hughes, staff attorney with the ACLU\u2019s Voting Rights Project<\/span><\/b>. \u201cWe\u2019re drawing a firm line in the sand: voters' private information is not a political bargaining chip.\"<\/span>\r\n\r\n\u201cProtecting voter privacy is not a partisan issue\u2013it is a matter of public trust, election security and democratic integrity,\u201d\u00a0<\/span>said Bradley Heard, deputy legal director, SPLC<\/span><\/b>. \u201cGeorgia voters share personal information with the clear expectation that it will only be used to\u00a0facilitate\u00a0elections in their own state. For that reason, Georgia\u2019s secretary of state must continue to exercise caution and restraint, rejecting any requests from the federal government that unnecessarily place voter data at risk or remove it from the state. Safeguarding Georgia voters\u2013and their personal information-from scrutiny\u00a0is the SPLC\u2019s\u00a0top priority.\u201d<\/span>\r\n\r\n\u201cFor generations, too many Georgians have had to fight to protect the right to vote,\u201d said\u00a0<\/span>Akiva\u00a0Freidlin, senior staff attorney, ACLU of Georgia.\u00a0<\/span><\/b>\u201cAnd preserving that right includes safeguarding Georgia voters\u2019 private data from government officials who may use it in invasive and unlawful ways.\u201d<\/span>\r\n\r\nCommon Cause previously\u00a0filed a lawsuit in Nebraska<\/a>\u00a0to protect state voter data and joined with the ACLU Voting Rights Project to file motions to intervene as defendants in DOJ lawsuits against\u00a0Colorado<\/a>,\u00a0New Mexico<\/a>,\u00a0Maryland<\/a>,\u00a0Rhode Island<\/a>,\u00a0Pennsylvania<\/a>, and\u00a0Minnesota<\/a>\u00a0for\u00a0failing to turn\u00a0over their voters\u2019\u00a0private data.<\/span><\/span><\/span>\r\n\r\nTo read the full motion to intervene,\u00a0<\/span>click here<\/span><\/a>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\r\n

###<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>"}},{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_add_component","_acfe_flexible_toggle":null,"component_add_component":null},{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_work","_acfe_flexible_toggle":null,"component_work":{"heading":"Work","manually_curate":false,"work":null}}]},"yoast_head":"\nVoting Rights Groups, Georgia Voter Seek to Protect Voters\u2019 Privacy - Common Cause Georgia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/georgia\/press\/voting-rights-groups-georgia-voter-seek-to-protect-voters-privacy\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Voting Rights Groups, Georgia Voter Seek to Protect Voters\u2019 Privacy\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/georgia\/press\/voting-rights-groups-georgia-voter-seek-to-protect-voters-privacy\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Common Cause Georgia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-12-23T18:13:34+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/georgia\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/GA-Vote-Sticker.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"344\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/georgia\/press\/voting-rights-groups-georgia-voter-seek-to-protect-voters-privacy\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/georgia\/press\/voting-rights-groups-georgia-voter-seek-to-protect-voters-privacy\/\",\"name\":\"Voting Rights Groups, Georgia Voter Seek to Protect Voters\u2019 Privacy - 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