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Sacramento, Calif. – Today, California Secretary of State Shirley N. Weber, Ph.D., secured a win in United States of America v. Weber, a case which threatened to give the federal government unprecedented access to California voters’ sensitive and private information, including social security and driver’s license numbers, partisan affiliation, home addresses and voting history.
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) initiated this case against Secretary Weber after California refused to acquiesce to its unlawful demand for California’s entire statewide voter registration database. In its order dismissing the case without leave to amend, the federal district court emphasized that Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1960, the National Voter Registration Act, and the Help America Vote Act to protect voting rights. The court rejected the DOJ’s attempt to weaponize these important laws to obtain unfettered access to Californian’s data to facilitate immigration enforcement or challenge the registration of eligible voters. The court called DOJ’s actions “…antithetical to the promise of fair and free elections our country promises and the franchise that civil rights leaders fought and died for.”
“As California Secretary of State, I am entrusted with ensuring that California’s state election laws are enforced—including state laws that protect the privacy of Californians’ data. I will continue to uphold my promise to Californians to protect our democracy, and I will continue to challenge this administration’s disregard for the rule of law and our right to vote,” stated Secretary Weber.
