The U.S. Department of Justice has intensified its push for Maine’s voter registration data, demanding unredacted voter rolls and all registration applications submitted over the past 18 months.
In a letter Monday, Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon ordered Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows (D) to comply within a week, specifying that the electronic voter list must include “all fields, including the registrant’s full name, date of birth, residential address, his or her state driver’s license number or the last four digits of the registrant’s social security number.”
The DOJ also requested copies of every original voter application filed from December 1, 2023, through July 1, 2025. “When providing a copy of the requested completed registration applications, Maine must ensure that they are provided in unredacted format,” Dhillon wrote.
Bellows, who rejected the DOJ’s initial request last month and told federal officials they could “go jump in the Gulf of Maine,” has refused to relent.
The DOJ cited the National Voter Registration Act, the Help America Vote Act, and the Civil Rights Act of 1960 to justify its demand, dismissing Maine’s privacy concerns. “Maine’s privacy laws, to the extent they are inconsistent with federal law, are preempted,” Dhillon added, noting the department would keep the data confidential unless a court rules otherwise.
