The Democratic National Committee wrote a “warning letter” on Friday to Mississippi Secretary of State Michael Watson, urging the Republican not to share unredacted voter information as part of an alleged agreement with the Trump administration.
According to the DNC, the state agency is about to provide the U.S. Department of Justice with the state’s full voter file to share information such as driver’s license numbers, partial Social Security numbers, dates of birth, and voter participation history to aid the federal department in locating ineligible voters. In the letter, the DNC references a December court hearing, in which the Justice Department indicated it is negotiating an agreement with Mississippi and 10 other GOP-led states for the transfer of voter information.
The letter alleges that the transfer of voter information would violate federal law, specifically the National Voter Registration Act, and could result in eligible voters mistakenly being purged from voter rolls.
In a statement, DNC chair Ken Martin said the letter was written to try to stop Trump from creating a national database of sensitive personal information. He said any such database opens the door to privacy concerns.
“As part of their big government power grab, Donald Trump and (Attorney General) Pam Bondi want to force states like Mississippi to hand over their voter files so that the Trump administration can create a national database with sensitive personal information like driver’s license numbers, Social Security numbers, and party affiliation, opening the door to privacy concerns and further political retribution,” Martin said.
“The DNC won’t stand idly by as the Trump DOJ tries to get access to Mississippi voters’ sensitive information and put eligible voters at risk of being wrongfully purged from Mississippi’s voter rolls, which is why we are calling on the Mississippi Secretary of State to stand up for Mississippians and reject the Trump administration’s illegal agreement,” he continued. “To be clear: Democrats stand ready to fight back and defend Mississippi voters, and we’re prepared to use the tools at our disposal to do so.”
The DNC has requested any records of a potential agreement to turn voter information over to the Justice Department to be produced by the Mississippi Secretary of State’s Office within 30 days, pursuant to Mississippi’s open records law.
The Mississippi Secretary of State’s Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment made by SuperTalk Mississippi News. Whether Mississippi has actually reached an agreement to send voter files to the Justice Department is unclear.
In 2017, the Trump administration attempted to get a hold of Mississippi’s voter roll data with then-Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann refusing to do so. Hosemann, who now serves as lieutenant governor, is also a Republican.