HARRISBURG — The Department of Justice sued six states on Thursday for what it said was their refusal to turn over statewide voter registration lists sought by the attorney general. Pennsylvania was among the six states named in the lawsuit. Today, in reaction, leaders at the ACLU of Pennsylvania had the following to say:
“This level of data collection is unprecedented and poses a significant threat to the privacy of Pennsylvanians. Pennsylvania already gave the DOJ access to the voter rolls of nearly 8 million voters. What our commonwealth didn’t give—and shouldn’t give—is highly sensitive information that the DOJ doesn’t need, such as partial Social Security and driver’s license numbers. There is not only a troubling lack of reason, but also a lack of clarity regarding how this data may be shared, processed and stored. The ACLU-PA will stand with voters to protect their constitutional right to privacy against the federal government’s illegal fishing expedition for highly personal information.” - Witold Walczak, legal director of the ACLU of Pennsylvania
“We should all be deeply concerned for our democracy. This disturbing chain of events —from pressing for gerrymandered maps to attempting to eliminate mail-in voting, and now pushing for access to unredacted voter rolls — suggests a concerted effort by the Trump Administration to undermine the integrity of our elections and disenfranchise eligible voters. Our elections are safe and fair, President Trump should know, he won his presidency with this exact trusted system. His attempts to cast doubt on the legitimacy of our elections are illogical and appear to be part of a broader strategy to manipulate unfavorable outcomes, who can and can't vote, and whose votes ultimately count, particularly in key battleground states like Pennsylvania. If what we suspect is the case, we're prepared to defend the fundamental rights of all Pennsylvanians." - Mike Lee, executive director for the ACLU of Pennsylvania
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