A federal judge has rejected the Trump Justice Department’s move to demand the state of Georgia hand over sensitive voter data from its election office.
Senior U.S. District Judge C. Ashley Royal, a George W. Bush appointee in the Middle District of Georgia, concluded that the DOJ filed its motion in the wrong court, and he lacks jurisdiction to even rule on the merits of the request in the first place.
“Only the Northern District of Georgia would have subject matter jurisdiction over this action,” Royal wrote. “First, the record shows the Attorney General’s written demand was mailed and emailed to Defendant Brad Raffensperger, Secretary of State, and Blake Evans, Director of the Elections Division of the Secretary of State’s Office, at their principal offices which are located in the Northern District of Georgia. Second, the record shows the Secretary’s administration of the statewide voter registration database takes place in Northern District of Georgia, and all orders for copies of Georgia voter lists are processed in the Elections Division in Northern District of Georgia.”
The decision means that the DOJ will have to refile in the other court to even have its argument heard.
President Donald Trump’s administration has sought vast amounts of voter registration data from a number of states, raising privacy concerns among experts.
While some Republican-controlled states have complied, Raffensperger, who is currently mounting a bid for governor, has refused to hand over data in Georgia, citing state law that keeps the Social Security Numbers of voters confidential.
Though Raffensperger has enthusiastically defended and implemented several controversial GOP policies to regulate voting rights, he is perhaps best known for standing up to Trump during the 2020 election, rebuffing his demand that Georgia election officials “find” extra votes to reverse his loss in the state. Those demands of Raffensperger were a key element of multiple criminal charges against Trump, though those cases ultimately were dismissed for various external reasons.
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