 |
People vote at a polling place in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on November 4, 2025.
As the Trump administration has filed lawsuits against 25 state election officials—most of them Democrats—over their handling of voter rolls, it has also faced quieter pushback from Republican officials uneasy with the Justice Department’s requests for sensitive voter registration data.
At least six Republican-led state election offices have refused to provide nonpublic voter information sought by the department. That data can include details such as Social Security numbers, driver’s license numbers, or home addresses, according to interviews, local news reports, and records obtained by CNN and the Brennan Center, a research organization focused on election policy.
“They can access the voter rolls. They’ll pay for them like anyone else,” West Virginia Secretary of State Kris Warner told CNN last month, referring to the publicly available list sold in his state for $500. “But they’re not getting personal information.”
Several other Republican election officials have turned over the requested data but declined to sign a proposed agreement from the Trump administration that would obligate them to remove voters the Justice Department identifies as ineligible.
In interviews with CNN, GOP election administrators voiced reservations about the department’s efforts, even as they generally support the president’s broader election security agenda. They said the requests could conflict with state laws that protect sensitive voter information, questioned the purpose behind seeking the data, and objected to the notion of federal authorities—rather than state or local officials—directing the removal of voters from registration rolls.
The Justice Department declined to comment.
The voter data initiative represents one of several steps the Trump administration has taken to play a more direct role in election functions traditionally managed by states.