Wilmington, DE— The ACLU of Delaware and the national American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) have filed a motion to intervene in U.S. v. Albence on behalf of several clients—including the Delaware Coalition Against Domestic Violence (DCADV), La Esperanza, and the Latin American Community Center (LACC)—to protect Delawareans’ sensitive personal data from misuse by the federal government. The motion to intervene as defendants was accompanied by a motion to dismiss the case. The U.S. filed the lawsuit seeking to compel the State of Delaware to disclose sensitive personal voter data, such as driver’s license numbers and Social Security information, for hundreds of thousands of Delawareans.
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) sent a letter on July 11, 2025, to the Delaware State Election Commissioner, Anthony Albence, which was similar to letters sent to nearly every state in the country.
In the letter, DOJ requested information about registered Delaware voters who were ineligible to vote due to circumstances such as citizenship status. The DOJ offered no evidence to suggest that this alleged widespread registration of ineligible voters actually exists in Delaware.
Despite this lack of evidence, the DOJ also demanded, in its initial letter and again on August 14, 2025, that Delaware provide the entire statewide voter registration list with “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.” No explanation was given for why this information was needed.
The federal government was unsatisfied with the State’s offer of the public voter registration list that is readily available to all Delawareans.
Delawareans’ sensitive data, particularly data connected to First Amendment activity, is protected by the Privacy Act, as well as Delaware state law–legal measures intended to safeguard the rights of voters and protect them from discrimination and invasions of privacy. The DOJ failed to answer Delaware officials when asked how the requested data could be transferred without violating state or federal law and failed to state a legally sufficient basis and purpose under federal law for the request.
A recently departed DOJ lawyer indicated that the current administration tasked the Civil Rights Division with “obtaining states’ voter rolls, by suing them if necessary.” The federal government initiated a lawsuit against Delaware–one of over 20 similar suits it has filed–to forcibly compel the State to disclose sensitive voter data.
“Protecting everyone's sensitive data from this inappropriate request is critical to ensuring all Delawareans have confidence in our elections,” said Andrew Bernstein, Civic Engagement Counsel at ACLU-DE and attorney for the proposed-intervenors. “For certain voters, such as immigrants and survivors of domestic violence, the potential consequences associated with misuse of their sensitive data are particularly grave. No one should have to worry about these risks when exercising their right to vote.”
Previous reporting has suggested that DOJ’s purpose in making these requests is to compare voter rolls to data from other agencies, such as the Department of Homeland Security. Additionally, recent events in Minnesota demonstrate that the administration has linked this effort to its anti-immigration agenda and its heavy-handed and escalating threats to states controlled by perceived political enemies. Attorney General Pam Bondi urged Minnesota Governor Tim Walz to let the federal government access the state’s voter rolls, among other demands, to “bring back law and order to Minnesota,” after the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in the streets of Minneapolis.
“The Delaware Coalition Against Domestic Violence (DCADV) is committed to protecting the privacy and confidentiality of domestic violence survivors, including their voter registration information,” stated the organization's executive director Sue Ryan. “Confidentiality is crucial for protecting a victim’s safety. DCADV strongly supports the State of Delaware and the ACLU in their efforts to protect the privacy of voters.”
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