Lawsuit alleges Alaska officials’ voter-data sharing with DOJ violates state constitution

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Voting and civil rights groups sued Alaska election officials in state court, alleging the state violated the constitution by sharing its full voter registration list with the U.S. Department of Justice, according to a lawsuit filed Wednesday.

The suit was filed against Republican Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom, who oversees the Alaska Division of Elections, and division Director Carol Beecher. It names the state elections officials and challenges what the plaintiffs describe as the transfer of personal voter data under a memorandum of understanding with the Justice Department.

The plaintiffs, the League of Women Voters of Alaska and the Alaska Black Caucus, contend that the handover infringes voters’ privacy rights under the Alaska constitution. The filing also argues that the memorandum violates due process by allowing the DOJ to flag voters for removal “without any apparent notice or process for impacted voters to challenge those decisions.”

In related arguments about how Alaska maintains its voter rolls, the lawsuit describes the state’s approach to cancellations and says removals can occur only in limited circumstances. The filing alleges those limits—such as removing registration “upon death or conviction of a felony involving moral turpitude”—do not align with how, the plaintiffs say, the agreement with DOJ would function.

State Department of Law spokesperson Sam Curtis said in an email that it would be premature to comment on the lawsuit’s specific claims. Curtis said the department has previously argued in public hearings that state law “expressly permits the sharing of this information for authorized governmental purposes,” and he said the department would defend that position in court.

Curtis added that “Alaska statutes contain numerous provisions that allow the sharing of otherwise non-public or confidential information with law enforcement.” During a legislative hearing last month, Rachel Witty, an attorney with the state Department of Law, told lawmakers that Alaska had a “compelling interest” to comply with the federal request, saying the mutual interest was maintaining voter rolls “accurate and current.”

The lawsuit seeks to unwind the agreement and limit any downstream use of the data. The plaintiffs are asking a judge to void the memorandum and require the elections division to make “reasonable efforts” to ensure the Justice Department destroys any hard copies and electronic versions of the list that were shared.

Eric Glatt, legal director for the ACLU of Alaska, said in a statement that the state’s elections division “acceded to federal overreach.” Glatt said the groups are asking the court “to step in and ensure that DOE upholds its constitutional and legal obligations to Alaskans.”

The Alaska case follows a broader legal fight over detailed voter-roll information. The Justice Department has sued at least 30 states and the District of Columbia to try to force the release of voter data, according to a tally by the Brennan Center, and judges have rejected those efforts in multiple states, including in California, Massachusetts, Michigan, Oregon and most recently Rhode Island.

The department has also faced other lawsuits, including federal cases filed by groups seeking to stop DOJ’s collection of unredacted voter registration files or to prevent states from taking steps to cancel or suspend voter registrations based on the federal project. In the Rhode Island case, Justice Department attorneys acknowledged the department sought unredacted voter information to share with the Department of Homeland Security to check citizenship status, according to the same report.