Last week, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) requested that Pennsylvania turn over its voter registration list. State officials denied the request, setting off a debate over the role of federal versus state government in managing elections.
“The first thing to know is that the Department of Justice and the White House do not run elections in this country,” said Jessie Allen, a professor of law at the University of Pittsburgh. According to the U.S. Constitution, elections are administered by state and local officials, not the federal government.
Allen described the DOJ’s request as unusual. She explained that Pennsylvania’s election system is bipartisan, and the state’s voter registration database is already considered public record. The list contains information such as voter ID numbers, names, addresses, dates of birth, sex, party affiliation, registration dates, and a record of when and where individuals have voted. However, sensitive personal data, such as driver’s license and Social Security numbers, are not public.
Allen emphasized that these identifiers were part of what the DOJ sought, but that the federal government had not provided a clear explanation for why it wanted them. “To collect the Social Security number and driver’s number of every person in the state of Pennsylvania with no legal authorization—no,” she said.
Some Pennsylvania voters also voiced concern about the request. Brooke Walker, a local voter, said she believes data collection should only serve the public good. “We want to be able to make sure that if they are collecting information, it’s used for the best of society, not just for their own personal gain,” Walker said.
Another voter, Ella, said she worried that sharing such information could weaken trust in the system. “I think that they are relatively secure right now, but I think that this could make them pretty insecure,” she said.
In a statement, the DOJ said the requests are part of a nationwide effort to monitor compliance with federal laws, including the National Voter Registration Act and the Help America Vote Act. At this time, it is unclear whether the federal government plans to resubmit its request.
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