Hawai‘i among several states being sued for failing to comply with federal election laws

The federal government has filed a lawsuit against the state of Hawai‘i, claiming the state failed to produce its voter registration lists upon request.

The U.S. Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division is suing 18 states for not complying with federal election laws.

“States have the statutory duty to preserve and protect their constituents from vote dilution,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “At this Department of Justice, we will not permit states to jeopardize the integrity and effectiveness of elections by refusing to abide by our federal elections laws. If states will not fulfill their duty to protect the integrity of the ballot, we will.”

The state Department of the Attorney General stated in an email to Big Island Now that “we will vigorously defend privacy rights of Hawaiʻi’s voters and our lawful election practices against the federal administration’s continued, nationwide overreach.”

The Department of the Attorney General will review the filings and respond as appropriate to prevent the federal government from sweeping up the private data of Hawaiʻi residents.

Federal Complaint Against Hawaii by Tiffany De Masters

According to the lawsuits, the Attorney General is uniquely charged by Congress with the enforcement of the National Voter Registration Act and the Help America Vote Act, which were designed by Congress to ensure that states have proper and effective voter registration and voter list maintenance programs.

The Attorney General also has the Civil Rights Act of 1960 at her disposal to demand the production, inspection, and analysis of the statewide voter registration lists.

According to the lawsuit that was filed U.S. District Court in Hawai‘i on Dec. 11, the U.S. Attorney General sent a letter on Sept. 8 to the office of Scott Nago, the state’s chief election officer, seeking information regarding Hawai‘i’s compliance with federal election law.

The Letter requested a copy of Hawai‘i’s statewide voter registration list within 14 days of the date of the letter. This included personal data from Hawai‘i residents, including each registrant’s full name, date of birth, residential address, and either their state driver’s license number, the last four digits of their Social Security number, or a unique identifier issued through the Help America Vote Act.

The letter also requested a current electronic copy of its computerized statewide voter registration list.

According to the lawsuit, Nago responded with a letter on Sept. 22 refusing to share the information, asserting that privacy laws prohibit the state from complying with this request.

On Dec. 1, attorney Eric Neff followed up by email to Nago requesting Hawai‘i’s Statewide Voter Registration list. The email also stated that: “…the United States is prepared at this early stage to enter into an MOU with Hawai‘i regarding the sharing of the nonpublic, unredacted voter registration list. I have attached that MOU, which we believe cures all potential concerns
a state might rightfully raise regarding its citizens’ private data and identifying information.”

According to the lawsuit, Nago responded by continuing to decline the request, citing, again, state privacy laws.