Attorney General Todd Blanche says the Justice Department could turn to the Supreme Court after a string of federal court defeats in the Trump administration’s effort to obtain detailed voter registration records from states across the country.
“Absolutely, it’s a possibility,” Blanche said Sunday during an appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
The Justice Department has so far lost 22 court battles stemming from its push for access to state voter rolls, but Blanche indicated that the administration has no intention of abandoning the effort.
“Election integrity is something that President [Donald] Trump ran on, and the American people elected him. It’s something that every American should care about,” Blanche said.
Blanche argued that examining the way elections are administered falls squarely within the Justice Department’s responsibilities and should not be viewed as something the federal government should avoid.
“The idea that the Department of Justice is trying to investigate issues around elections to make sure they’re fair and make sure they’re conducted the right way is not something that we should be running away from,” Blanche added. “That’s something we should be running right towards.”
The legal fight follows an executive order issued by President Trump directing states to provide voter registration records containing information including voters’ names, birth dates, addresses, driver’s license numbers and the final four digits of their Social Security numbers.
The Justice Department says obtaining the information would allow federal officials to determine whether noncitizens are improperly registered to vote and to uncover other potential problems with voter registration records.
As part of that effort, the department has filed lawsuits against 30 states and Washington, D.C., after they declined to provide the requested voter rolls. Federal judges considering the disputes have repeatedly ruled in favor of the states.
Despite those setbacks, Blanche said the Justice Department will continue pursuing its election-related enforcement efforts.
“We’re not going to stop doing what I think every American should expect us to do, which is make sure that we have elections that are fair,” Blanche said.
“And as that relates to the Department of Justice, that means making sure that there are no constitutional legal violations, even at the state level,” Blanche added.
{Matzav.com}
