Washington (Brussels Morning Newspaper) January 9, 2026 – The US Justice Department filed lawsuits against Connecticut and Arizona demanding unredacted voter registration databases containing personally identifiable information as part of 23 total state actions enforcing federal election oversight authority. Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes and Connecticut Attorney General William Tong defended refusals citing state privacy laws prohibiting disclosure of full birthdates, partial Social Security numbers, and driver’s licence details. Attorney General Pam Bondi stated the department seeks accurate voter rolls essential for election integrity protection.
The Civil Rights Division announced lawsuits Tuesday claiming both states violated federal mandates requiring cooperation with voter roll maintenance verification. Requests sought comprehensive records covering 2024 election cycles including names, addresses, voting histories, felony convictions, and citizenship documentation across millions of registrants. Connecticut offered aggregate statistics while Arizona provided redacted files excluding sensitive identifiers.
Justice Department escalates voter roll data collection campaign
Attorney General Pam Bondi confirmed 23 states plus the District of Columbia face identical lawsuits following December 2025 administrative demands. Civil Rights Division cited 52 U.S.C. § 20511 requires state cooperation with federal election administration oversight. The department documented perceived discrepancies from the U.S. Election Assistance Commission surveys prompting systematic list maintenance programme activation.
Requests demanded 47 data fields per registrant spanning residential address histories, party affiliations, incarceration records, and Help America Vote Act compliance documentation. Non-compliant jurisdictions faced $100,000 daily civil penalties under National Voter Registration Act enforcement provisions. Bondi emphasised accurate voter rolls constituting election integrity foundation during January 7 press briefing.
Arizona secretary fontes rejects third federal data request
Arizona Secretary Adrian Fontes rejected the December 19 request marking the third refusal since November 2025 citing Arizona Revised Statutes § 16-166 limiting disclosures to eligibility verification purposes. Fontes maintained 3.8 million active registrants underwent 2025 purges removing 187,000 inactives plus 41,000 non-residents through ERIC interstate cross-checks. Maricopa County 2022 hand recount confirmed 99.4% tabulation accuracy across 2,120,000 ballots cast.
Fontes posted a social media response characterising demand as privacy infringement. Rachel Alexander noted Fontes’ defiant position. Rachel Alexander said in X post,
“Toldja the DOJ would be coming after Arizona for election fraud. Harmeet Dhillon just sued cartel lawyer Adrian Fontes on January 6 for refusing to turn over voter rolls.
Looks like Fontes knows he may end up in prison. Shortly before the lawsuit was filed, Fontes told Democracy Docket, which is run by progressive elections attorney Marc Elias, ‘They’re going to have to put me in jail if they want this information.’
He said during a podcast interview with Elias, ‘It’s going to take a lot more than just a court order to get me to turn this stuff over. It’s going to be a knockdown drag out fight. I will not turn this data over as long as I am the Secretary of State here in Arizona.’”
👁️👁️👁️👁️Toldja the DOJ would be coming after Arizona for election fraud. Harmeet Dhillon just sued cartel lawyer Adrian Fontes on January 6 for refusing to turn over voter rolls. Looks like Fontes knows he may end up in prison.
Shortly before the lawsuit was filed, Fontes told… <
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