Some Republican states resist DOJ demand for private voter data

“It raises concerns to me about trust, about transparency, about the potential for politicizing a process that folks on all sides of the political spectrum need to feel comfortable and confident is being handled appropriately,” said Matt Germer, director of the Governance Program at the R Street Institute, a center-right think tank in Washington, D.C.

Germer, who calls himself a pro-democracy conservative, said others like him, as well as many Democrats, “have some worry that this is less about building a case against specific incidents of fraud and more about sowing fear in election processes…”

But as the Trump administration seeks voter lists, Germer, of the R Street Institute, voiced concern about what the demands could mean for the future. The collection effort is beginning to set a precedent and a mechanism for future data grabs, he cautioned.

“It’s important to remember that these kinds of actions don’t occur in a vacuum,” Germer said, adding that “we live in a world where one president takes action and the next president builds upon it.”