Protecting Voters’ Private Information from Federal Misuse

 

 

The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, the NAACP, the Georgia State Conference of the NAACP, the Atlanta branch of the NAACP, the Georgia Coalition for the People’s Agenda, and individual voters are asking the court to stop the Trump administration from misusing sensitive voting records seized in Fulton County, Georgia.

What This Case Is About

This case challenges the federal government’s seizure and potential misuse of sensitive voter data from Fulton County, Georgia, including ballots, ballot images, voter rolls, and other election materials that may reveal both personal information and voters’ selections, with no clear limits on how that information may be used. Our coalition is asking the court to protect this private data and prohibit the government from using it for any purpose beyond a legitimate criminal investigation.

That includes preventing the government from using these records to support purges of voters from State voter rolls, disclose private information, intimidate voters, or further undermine confidence in our democratic process.

Why It Matters

Voters should not have to fear that registering to vote or participating in an election will expose their private information to political misuse, and the government should not be able to learn who received their vote.

The Trump administration has already sued 29 states, the District of Columbia, and Fulton County to obtain private voter data and pressure election officials to purge voter rolls using unreliable or outdated information ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. Multiple federal courts have already rejected those efforts. Once it has this information, the government could use it for other improper purposes.

This case is about protecting voter privacy, preventing intimidation, and ensuring that election systems are not weaponized against the very people they are meant to serve.

What We’re Asking the Court To Do

Our coalition has asked the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia to:

• Prohibit the misuse of voter information seized in Fulton County
• Limit use of the records to the government’s investigation of the 2020 election in Fulton County
• Prevent disclosure or exploitation of private voter data

From Our Team

Robert Weiner, director of the Voting Rights Project at the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law:

“Based on false and discredited information, the Justice Department obtained a search warrant and seized private information of individual voters in Fulton County files. The Department of Justice has brought more than 30 civil cases to get this type of information, and three courts already have ruled against them. It is an abuse of power to try to bypass these cases with a criminal search warrant. The DOJ should not be allowed to use the improperly seized information for anything beyond the supposed criminal investigation in which the warrant was issued.”

Leah Frazier, director of the Digital Justice Initiative at the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law:

“This case raises urgent privacy concerns in one of the highest stakes contexts: the electoral process. It is critical that voters be able to register to vote and cast their ballots without the risk that providing information necessary to do so will be weaponized or abused. That is why it’s imperative that the government not be allowed to use the criminal investigative process to seize sensitive voter information and use it for whatever purpose it wants – especially at a time when the administration is targeting Black communities and other communities of color and seeking to consolidate control over elections.”

 

 

Coalition

This case is brought by the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, the NAACP, the Georgia State Conference of the NAACP, the Atlanta branch of the NAACP, the Georgia Coalition for the People’s Agenda, and individual members.