Voter Privacy vs. Federal Mandate: Secretary Amore Digs In

The Latest Flashpoint: The federal Department of Justice has officially filed a motion to expedite their appeal in U.S. v. Amore (following their formal appeal to the First Circuit on June 3rd). This escalates a high-stakes legal battle over who controls Rhode Island's voter data. The Origin: This stems from a September 2025 DOJ demand letter seeking Rhode Island's complete, unredacted statewide voter registration list. When Secretary of State Gregg Amore refused to hand over private data without a court order, the DOJ sued. The Core Conflict: Privacy vs. "Verification" What the DOJ is demanding: Full, unredacted voter files, including sensitive, non-public data: full names, residential addresses, dates of birth, driver’s license numbers, and partial Social Security numbers. The DOJ’s Stance: They claim authority under the Civil Rights Act of 1960 and the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) to enforce "list maintenance" and verify that RI is properly cleaning its voter rolls. They call it a "trust but verify" approach. Amore’s Defense: Amore immediately pushed back, stating the feds are welcome to public voter data, but he will not violate state privacy statutes or hand over sensitive, personal identifiers without a direct mandate. He argues the federal government is attempting to build an unauthorized national voter database. The Political & Local Stakes The Big Picture: Rhode Island isn't alone. This is part of a coordinated, national push by the Trump Administration's DOJ, which filed similar lawsuits against a tranche of states with Democratic administrations. Local Backing & Coalition: Local and national groups—including Common Cause RI, the ACLU of RI, and SEIU District 1199NE—successfully intervened in the case to protect voter privacy. The Fear of "Purges": Voting rights advocates warn that centralizing this data into a federal "master file" shared with agencies like the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) could lead to targeted voter purges and have a chilling effect on voter registration in immigrant communities. Where It Stands Now A Big Win for RI (April 2026): U.S. District Court Judge Mary S. McElroy handed Amore a major victory, granting the motion to dismiss the DOJ's lawsuit and blocking the attempt to access Rhode Islanders' private data. The Appeal (Summer 2026): The federal government isn't backing down. They are aggressively pushing the First Circuit Court of Appeals to overturn the dismissal, setting up a major constitutional showdown over the Elections Clause. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.