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Today, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a civil lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington against Secretary of State Steve Hobbs. The suit alleges that Hobbs violated Section 1974(c) of the Civil Rights Act of 1960 by refusing to provide unredacted voter registration data as demanded by the Attorney General. This section empowers the DOJ to request records for the enforcement of federal voting rights laws.
The lawsuit seeks a court order compelling compliance via a “summary proceeding”—a fast-tracked process in which the court verifies whether a written demand was made and refused, without scrutinizing the DOJ’s motives or the data’s use. The DOJ requested that the court order delivery of the full data within five days of any ruling and emphasized that redacted data would hinder its ability to conduct a thorough audit.
According to the lawsuit, the AG is uniquely charged by Congress with More
