The U.S. Department of Justice on Thursday filed a lawsuit against Republican Secretary of State Michael Adams and other Kentucky officials in an effort to obtain voter records. Adams was photographed in January during Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear’s State of the Commonwealth address.
The Justice Department is suing five additional states, including Kentucky, for failing to provide voter registration data. The requested records include sensitive details such as driver’s license and Social Security numbers.
In a statement Thursday, Adams said he would “not voluntarily commit a data breach” involving Kentuckians’ private information without a court order.
The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court of Eastern Kentucky, names Adams and members of the Kentucky State Board of Elections as defendants.
The DOJ has now taken legal action against 29 states and the District of Columbia to obtain the information, which it says is necessary to maintain accurate voter rolls.
During the second Trump administration, DOJ officials began requesting voter data from states last year. The department has since shared voter roll information with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to identify noncitizens. Homeland Security is expanding a citizenship verification program and promoting it as a tool to strengthen election integrity.
Adams previously discussed the DOJ’s inquiry in a December interview.
“Kentucky’s elections are a national success story, and the Department of Justice has repeatedly acknowledged in court our successful work to clean up the dirty voter rolls I inherited,” Adams said Thursday. “Kentucky law protects voters’ personal information, and I will not voluntarily commit a data breach by providing Kentuckians’ personal data to the federal bureaucracy unless a court order tells me to.”
Karen Sellers, executive director of the State Board of Elections, said in an email that the board is aware of the lawsuit but has not yet been formally served.
“The Board takes seriously its obligations under state and federal law and will respond to the complaint when it is served,” Sellers said.
In a press release, the DOJ argued that it is entitled to the requested data under the Civil Rights Act of 1960.
“Accurate, well-maintained voter rolls are a requisite for the election integrity that the American people deserve,” Attorney General Pamela Bondi said in a statement. “This latest series of litigation underscores that this Department of Justice is fulfilling its duty to ensure transparency, voter roll maintenance, and secure elections across the country.”
The other states named in the latest round of lawsuits are Utah, Oklahoma, West Virginia, and New Jersey.
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