The Department of Justice is suing Oklahoma after the state's election officials declined to hand over a list of registered voters and their personal information, including Social Security and driver's license numbers.
Earlier this month, State Election Board Secretary Paul Ziriax wrote in a letter first obtained by Oklahoma News 4 that he could not legally share voter data with the DOJ.
The Trump administration disagrees with Ziriax's interpretation.
Oklahoma was among five states sued Thursday by the DOJ. So far, the department has sued 29 states as it seeks to obtain more detailed voter registration data than is typically available to the public because of confidential information within.
"Accurate, well-maintained voter rolls are a requisite for the election integrity that the American people deserve," Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a written statement. "This latest series of litigation underscores that This (sic) Department of Justice is fulfilling its duty to ensure transparency, voter roll maintenance, and secure elections across the country."
The rolls the DOJ seeks include personal information that Ziriax said his office could not turn over under state law, such as driver's license numbers or the last four Social Security digits for registered voters.
In his recent letter declining to share the list, Ziriax wrote that Oklahoma's elections are "safe, secure, and fair."
In its lawsuit, the DOJ writes that the federal government has an obligation to ascertain Oklahoma's compliance with voter roll list maintenance requirements.
A federal judge dismissed a similar suit against California last month. State officials across the country have questioned why the DOJ actually needs access to the list and have worried about what officials might do with the information.
A spokesperson for Ziriax wrote that his office had not been served the suit and declined to comment.
"However, Secretary Ziriax stands by his previous letter to the DOJ where he stated that Oklahoma did offer the state's voter list, but is bound by state law to protect voters' personally identifiable information such as driver license numbers and Social Security numbers," the spokesperson wrote.
Abigail Siatkowski and Graycen Wheeler contributed to this report.
This report was produced by the Oklahoma Public Media Exchange, a collaboration of public media organizations. Help support collaborative journalism by donating at the link at the top of this webpage.
