LINCOLN, Neb. (KMTV) — Nebraska Secretary of State Bob Evnen plans to hand over the state's voter registration data to the Department of Justice on Thursday, despite an ongoing legal challenge attempting to block the transfer.
In September, the DOJ requested Nebraska's statewide voter registration list within 14 days. The list includes data like full names, birth dates, addresses, driver's license numbers and the last four digits of Social Security numbers.
Common Cause, which describes itself as a wide-ranging democracy organization, sued Evnen in late September in an effort to block this from happening.
"Why is he so eager to turn over this data now to the federal government in light of the fact that he has made a case for how well we are doing it here, I am a bit surprised that he hasn't come to Nebraskans defense a bit more in this situation," said Gavin Geis, Nebraska State Director for Common Clause.
A Lancaster County judge dismissed the case just days ago. However, Common Cause told KMTV Wednesday that the Supreme Court granted their case an expedited hearing after they filed an appeal. That hearing is now set for March 31.
That doesn't stop the Secretary of State from sharing the data.
Evnen says he still plans to do that Thursday. He says it will be uploaded to a secure federal website. He'll also send a letter reminding the DOJ of its requirement to follow privacy laws.
"Nebraskans are concerned about the security of their data and the letter reflects that," said Evnen's office.
Molly asked for a copy of the letter he plans to send but has not heard back.
