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The US Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a Notice of Appeal with the US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit Monday in a case seeking personal information regarding Massachusetts voters.
Following the Secretary of the Commonwealth’s refusal to turn over the information, the administration filed a lawsuit. In the complaint, the administration argued that failing to comply with this request is a violation of section 303 of the Civil Rights Act of 1960. Section 303 works in tandem with Section 301, which requires states to retain information on “all records and papers that come into his possession relating to application, registration…or other act requisite to voting,” for a 22-month period. The Attorney General, or an associate, under 303, can request these records through written notice.
In filing a motion to dismiss, the secretary stated that the records requested are “outside the scope of the act.” Additionally, the secretary stated that state and federal law require “redaction of sensitive personal information.”
Judge Leo Sorokin granted the motion to dismiss in April. In a mainly textual analysis, he stated that the act required a statement of the basis for the action, and he found none. While the demand provided a reason, racial discrimination, it was only a sentence. Moreover, the judge felt this was “nothing that could be fairly characterized as a factual basis for the demand.”
Furthermore, in his textual analysis he stated that a basis must be the foundation or “chief supporting factor.” This required a “factual basis,” not a conceivable statement. There was no factual basis in the complaint, the court found.
As a result of this decision and subsequent appeal, the case heads to the First Circuit.
The facts present issues of data security and election security just as midterms are approaching. According to the ACLU, the DOJ wants to create a “national voter database.” In motions to intervene, the ACLU argued this could affect voter enfranchisement. Common Cause, Jane Doe Inc, and a naturalized citizen all intervened out of concerns regarding data protection and disenfranchisement.
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