Utah Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson wants a federal judge to toss the Trump administration’s lawsuit demanding the state’s unredacted voter rolls, arguing the Justice Department’s legal theory is 0-for-16 in courts nationwide.
In a filing Tuesday, Henderson said courts across the country have rejected the Justice Department’s interpretation of the law 16 times and upheld it exactly zero.
She also flagged six rulings in the past three weeks dismissing parallel Justice Department suits against other states, including Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, New York, West Virginia, Virginia and New Mexico.
The Justice Department sued Henderson in February, demanding Utah turn over its full, unredacted voter registration list, including personal information not released to the public and voter records marked “withheld,” a status often used to protect domestic violence survivors and others at risk.
The DOJ claims a provision of the Civil Rights Act of 1960 requires election officials to preserve certain records and make them available to federal authorities, which they argue includes complete voter rolls.
The suit is part of a broader effort by the Trump administration to access voter data from states under the banner of “election integrity.”
Henderson has offered the public version of the database instead, citing voter privacy issues. Her office argues voter rolls aren’t the kind of “records” the 1960 law covers and that the department hasn’t identified any specific problem that would justify releasing the data.
On social media, Henderson has been keeping score of the department’s losing streak, including a Virginia ruling this week tossing another case.
“After 14 straight losses and zero wins, it’s time for the DOJ to voluntarily dismiss the rest of their frivolous lawsuits against states,” Henderson wrote.
Henderson has asked the court to dismiss the case outright.
