Key Points:
Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs has been unlawfully withholding voter database information from the U.S. Department of Justice. This is a violation of at least two different sections of federal law. Hobbs has been getting bad advice, presumably from the current governor and state attorney general, that he could act in this unlawful way.
The real issue behind all the rhetoric is that Washington illegally registers people to vote, under our state’s dubious automatic voter registration or “Motor Voter” law. No one checks whether voters who are automatically registered in Washington are citizens and legal voters. We’ve been pointing this out for years. WA Democrats refused to listen.
Hobbs needs to act more lawfully and, frankly, more carefully in this case. His specious arguments about protecting people’s privacy are not accurate or relevant. Federal law protects privacy more effectively than state law does. Also, we understand that state employee whistleblowers may have already provided the U.S. Department of Justice with the relevant information. Hobbs’ arguments are moot.
Washingtonians aren’t concerned about “privacy” in this matter. They understand that the information in voter databases is public—and that the federal government already has information like Social Security Numbers. The federal government issues those numbers! Washingtonians want our state voter rolls to be audited. That’s what this Department of Justice request and this lawsuit are all about.
If the state government loses this lawsuit, which is likely—it will be a win for Washington election integrity, but a loss for Washington state taxpayers, who will ultimately foot the bill for Ferguson, Brown, and Hobbs and Co.’s recklessness.
Washington still needs to pass IL26-126, the Voter ID Initiative. It will align state election law and best practices with federal law. And make lawsuits like this unnecessary.