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DOJ sued Rhode Island, seeking the state’s voter rolls, including large amounts of private voter data, such as social security numbers. DOJ’s lawsuit follows a September letter from DOJ seeking the entire, unredacted Rhode Island voter roll. DOJ began sending such demands to dozens of States over the summer of 2025, and then filed a tranche of eight lawsuits against states with Democratic administrations in September 2025, followed by another round of similar lawsuits in December 2025 against Rhode Island and five other states.

DOJ’s lawsuit appears to be connected to governmental efforts to create a national voter database without congressional authorization, and to question the validity of certain states’ election administration process and voter rolls, and the status of certain voters.

A group of three Rhode Island voters as well as Common Cause sought to intervene to defend against this potential violation of voter privacy. The voters and organization are represented by the ACLU and the ACLU of Rhode Island. The district court granted their motion to intervene on January 6, 2026.