Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows is denying the federal Department of Justice’s request for voter information for a second time.
Bellows issued a statement Monday, saying the government hasn’t given a good reason for accessing the data, does not safely protect it, and is breaking privacy laws by demanding it.
“The Department of Justice hasn’t shown any good reason for its fishing expedition for sensitive voter information on every American,” said Secretary Bellows. “The federal government has a terrible track record keeping private data safe. Their data demands appear to violate federal privacy laws and complying would put the privacy and data security of nearly 1 million Mainers at risk.”
The information being sought includes driver’s license numbers, partial social security numbers, and full dates of birth of all registered Maine voters.
Bellows says the demand is for sensitive and protected personally identifying information (PII).
The Justice Department says it needs the information to see if Maine is complying with the Voter Registration Act.
Bellows previously rejected a request for the information, saying it goes too far. She originally announced her intentions to deny the request in late July, telling the DOJ to “go jump in the Gulf of Maine”, and formally declined in a letter on August 8.
The latest request from the Justice Department, dated August 18, also asked for all voter registration applications submitted from December 1, 2023 to July 1, 2025.
Bellows says Maine is not the only state that has denied DOJ demands for data. In a news release Monday, her office said states including Pennsylvania and New Hampshire have recently reiterated denials of DOJ’s demands.
