The L.A. Times and O.C. Register have coverage of the latest from the Civil Rights Division, in a very odd (but also comparatively low-impact?) lawsuit. The complaint is here.
The fuss is apparently over 17 records of non-citizens removed from the voter rolls over 5 years (16 apparently based on self-reporting by the individuals themselves), in which DOJ asked for records (older than the period required under federal law for local offices to keep records), and Orange County provided them. The records had – pursuant to state law – driver’s license numbers, SSN digits, and signatures redacted. DOJ demanded the unredacted records.
But the redacted information isn’t actually all that useful in evaluating whether Orange County was complying with law that DOJ says it was investigating: whether Orange County was complying with HAVA in removing noncitizens from the rolls. And it’s not at all clear that the other law under which DOJ is suing – the right to public voter registration records from just the last two years – actually requires the public disclosure of unredacted SSN digits or signatures.
Normally, these sorts of requests would all be worked out in normal government-to-government communication, or (if in the service of particular criminal investigations) a subpoena, but not civil litigation. And Orange County in particular has a record of excellence in election administration stretching back a few decades now. Given the oddities, I don’t think it hurts to have a judge reviewing the request for this sort of information. This suit just seems weird.
