The Trump administration is asking the Illinois State Board of Elections to hand over the state’s entire voter registration database, including sensitive information such as voters’ Social Security numbers and dates of birth.
Capitol News Illinois reports that the Justice Department filed the request on Monday. The agency is also asking for information about how Illinois election officials maintain the voter registration rolls.
Those efforts are at the heart of a federal lawsuit that the conservative legal advocacy group Judicial Watch filed against the state last year. A hearing in that lawsuit is scheduled for Wednesday.
State officials did not immediately comment on the request. But David Becker of the Center for Election Innovation and Research said the request goes far beyond the Justice Department’s legal authority.
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