Protect Democracy says the voter database violates privacy law
Protect DemocracyProtect Democracy, through counsel Jane Bentrott
Protect Democracy counsel Jane Bentrott said the centralized voter database violated privacy laws and endangered eligible voters' personal data.
“This database violates federal privacy laws”
Official statement
Where this statement fits
Judge vacates DOJ's voter-roll collection and sharing policy in Common Cause suit
Common Cause and four voters sued the Justice Department on April 21, 2026 over its nationwide voter-list policy, under which the Civil Rights Division sought states' unredacted voter registration lists and compared them with a federal citizenship database. In a May 12 opinion, DOJ's Office of Legal Counsel said federal law lets the division obtain the lists and share them with DHS. On October 9, Judge Sparkle L. Sooknanan set the policy aside. She ruled that it exceeded DOJ's statutory authority, was arbitrary and capricious, and violated the Privacy Act and the Paperwork Reduction Act. Common Cause and the ACLU welcomed the ruling, and a DOJ spokesperson said the department was reviewing it.
Source and context
Official statement
About this source
Plaintiffs and counsel criticize DOJ's policy and welcome vacatur; their evaluation is distinct from the court's reasoning.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Before the quotation
Bentrott commented in the joint release announcing the ruling against the DOJ voter-data policy.
After the quotation
Bentrott welcomed the ruling as protection for voters, national security and elections.
How this statement is classified
The label describes this statement's response within the context above.
Why this label?
Protect Democracy explicitly condemns the voter-data collection policy as unlawful and risky.
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- People and groups discussed
- United States Department of Justice
More from this case
Read the full caseColumbus criticizes DOJ's failure to follow Privacy Act steps and doubts the injunction's effect
“these are procedural steps that they could have taken but refused to.”Read statement
ACLU's Ming Cheung criticizes the effort to seize voter data
American Civil Liberties Union
“This effort to seize sensitive voter data is part of that same pattern”Read statement
Common Cause condemns DOJ's voter-data demands
Common Cause
“It’s time the Trump administration stop these desperate attempts to seize voters’ private data and take control of our elections,”Read statement
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The Dispute Index. "Protect Democracy says the voter database violates privacy law". First published: 2026-10-16. Last updated: 2026-10-16. https://disputeindex.com/events/5804-protect-democracy-counsel-jane-bentrott-said-the-centralized