Voting Rights Groups, Virginia Voters File Motion to Protect Data Privacy
Voting Rights Groups, Virginia Voters File Motion to Protect Data Privacy
Publish Date: 2026-02-14 13:29:00
Source Domain: www.commoncause.org
Common Cause, the ACLU National Voting Rights Project, and a Virginia voter filed a motion to intervene in United States of America v. Beals to prevent the Department of Justice (DOJ) from obtaining Virginia voters’ personal data from the nonpublic voter file.
In July, the DOJ asked Virginia to turn over voters’ full names, dates of birth, addresses, driver’s license numbers, and partial Social Security numbers — highly sensitive data that is protected under state and federal law. The state did not turn over the unredacted data. The DOJ responded by filing a lawsuit against the Commissioner of the Virginia Department of Elections, Susan Beals, in January in an attempt to obtain this information.
The advocates and voters argue DOJ’s request threatens voter privacy and enables voter disenfranchisement. They are represented by attorneys from the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation.
Voters joining the case include a naturalized citizen, Katie Ellena, who has an interest in this case because their background places them at heightened risk of DOJ targeting, a threat that extends to countless other Virginia voters.
“Virginia’s privacy laws are in place for a reason—to protect people and their data,” said Suzanne Almeida, Common Cause Vice President of States. “Handing personal data over to the federal government would put voters at risk and could result in eligible voters being denied their right to participate in a major election year. Common Cause is fighting to protect the rights of Virginia voters and to prevent the potential misuse of their data.”
“Federal overreach of this kind threatens voters’ privacy and their fundamental right to participate in our democracy,” said Ari Savitzky, senior staff attorney with the ACLU’s Voting Rights Project. “The Department of Justice is using the civil rights statutes as pretext to try to hoover up private voter data and use it for…
