President Trump's Department of Justice is in a tug-of-war with Illinois after the state is pushing back to a request for access to sensitive voter data.

Illinois

Illinois election officials are currently resisting a request from the U.S. Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division for access to sensitive voter data, including names, addresses, and partial Social Security numbers. The request follows the state's earlier provision of limited, publicly available voter information, which the DOJ deemed insufficient.

This development comes as President Trump has announced plans to sign an executive order banning mail-in voting, citing unsubstantiated claims of widespread fraud. Legal experts have noted that federal law does not grant the federal government the right to such data and that states retain authority over election administration. Illinois Governor Pritzker and others have expressed concern over the motives behind the federal request.

Illinois resists Trump DOJ request for sensitive voter data

Also today, President Trump says he will sign an executive order outlawing mail-in voting. President renewing his attacks, falsely claiming that it led to widespread fraud, the president doubling down on his attack during an Oval Office press conference with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Trump says his attorneys are crafting an executive order and wants Republicans to get behind the effort. The Democrats want it because they have horrible policy. If you have mail-in voting, you're not going to have many Democrats get elected. That's bigger than anything having to do with redistricting, believe me. Meanwhile, Trump's Department of Justice is engaged in a tug-of-war with the state of Illinois' election authorities. And the DOJ's Civil Rights Division is trying to get access to sensitive data on Illinois voters. So far, Illinois has resisted. Political reporter Paris Schatz has the latest on this story. Paris? Yeah, Sylvia and Scott, the Illinois State Board of Elections is currently reviewing this latest request from the Department of Justice to get access to all of Illinois' sensitive voter data. That is something that has legal experts confused and concerned. In a letter dated August 14th, the head of the DOJ's Civil Rights Division asks Illinois Election Board Executive Director Sarah Matthews for sensitive data on Illinois voters, including the registrant's full name, date of birth, residential address, his or her state driver's license number, or the last four digits of the registrant's Social Security number as required under the Help America Vote Act. This letter came after the board responded to an initial request by sending over limited info on voters that protects personal data. It's the same info that the general public is able to purchase and something utilized by political parties. But the DOJ said that was not sufficient. Justin Levitt, an election law expert at Loyola Marymount Law School, says a Nixon-era law guaranteed that the federal government does not have a right to the information it's asking for. Just because the public can get it, just because you or I can walk in off the street and get the voter file, or just because a campaign can get the voter file, doesn't mean the federal government can. Levitt also says he's concerned that the DOJ has not outlined exactly what they plan to do with that info. I shouldn't have to guess. We shouldn't have to guess. We shouldn't have to suppose. Federal law says you got to tell us before you start collecting our data. Last week, Governor Pritzker stated he thinks the Trump administration is using this to try and, quote, rig the midterm election. Well, it's clear why they're hunting around for voter data, right? They're trying to say that in the next election that there would be fraud because they know they're going to lose. The request has come as President Trump has renewed his threat against mail-in voting today, saying he'll sign an executive order outlawing it. On this, Levitt also says the sole authority to run elections rests with state and local governments. States don't have to listen to a federal executive order. Executive orders tell the federal government what to do. They tell federal agencies what to do. But they can't tell state or local officials how to do their business.

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Jerusalem

Middle East Conflict

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Brussels

Ukraine Invasion

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North Carolina

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Hong Kong Island

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East Coast of the United States

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Los Angeles

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Kyiv

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Breakdown