LOUISVILLE — The chief elections officer in Kentucky’s most populous county is intervening in a federal lawsuit in hopes of blocking the U.S. Department of Justice from gaining access to Kentuckians’ sensitive voter data.  Jefferson County Clerk David Yates, a Democrat, filed a motion to in tervene in the DOJ’s lawsuit against Republican Secretary of State Michael Adams and the Kentucky State Board of Elections.  Yates said he is the first county clerk in the country to take legal action to block the transfer of unredacted voter rolls, including Social Security and driver’s license numbers, to the Justice Department. Under the second Trump administration, DOJ officials began asking states for voter information last year. With the Kentucky lawsuit, the Justice Department  is now suing 29 states and the District of Columbia for the unredacted information, which it has said it would use to ensure clean voting rolls in the states. “The Constitution deliberately gives states and local governments control over elections to prevent federal overreach by any president or administration,” Yates said in a press conference Tuesday morning. “I will not stand by while President Donald Trump and the Department of Justice try to bully local officials into surrendering that authority. When the people of Louisville are attacked, we stand up and we fight back, because protecting local control is how we protect democracy.”  The motion says “the DOJ’s attempt to illegally overreach is not only a state issue, but a local issue as well.”  “Local officials, like the Clerk, are the primary registration records custodians and administrators of elections in Kentucky engaging in firsthand and active participation in the voting process, directly with voters, from start to finish,” the motion says. “As County Clerk, Clerk Yates ensures Jefferson County residents have voting access, including registration, and strives to get more people involved in the democratic process.” Jefferson County has  583,453 voters registered as of February, the most in Kentucky. In bid for voter data, Trump’s DOJ lays groundwork to undermine confidence in midterms Yates’ motion to intervene was filed in partnership with the Jefferson County attorney’s office in the U.S. District Court of Eastern Kentucky. Last week, the American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky (ACLU-KY) filed a motion to intervene in the lawsuit on behalf of two Kentucky voters who are naturalized citizens and voting rights groups.  The State Board of Elections has moved to dismiss the lawsuit, arguing federal law doesn’t give the DOJ unfettered access to data on millions of Kentuckians who are registered to vote. It also said the board had attempted to cooperate with the DOJ by providing a redacted list to avoid privacy violations. The Democratic National Committee has attempted to file an amicus brief in support of the State Board of Elections’ call to dismiss the case.  The DOJ has shared voter roll information with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to search for noncitizens. Homeland Security is building out a powerful citizenship verification program and touting it as a way to ensure election integrity. Asked about the sharing of data between federal agencies, Yates said that with the risk of it being “used wrongfully,” it is “all the more reason that we need to make sure that we’re standing up and fighting back.” He added that the State Board of Elections had done what “they’re supposed to do” by sharing the redacted information that doesn’t include the sensitive data.  Yates added that the Justice Department’s insistence that states turn over the data k would have a chilling effect on future voter registration.  “Unfortunately, some of this scares people because you don’t know what they’ll do with information,” Yates said. “And to those individuals who may be otherwise second guessing whether or not they want to register to vote before the April 29 deadline, please know that we’re fighting for you, that we’ll make sure that your information is protected and that your voice does matter. Do not let someone intimidate you from using your constitutional right to vote. It’s too important.”  The post Louisville officials seek to block transfer of Kentuckians’ sensitive voter data to feds  appeared first on The Lexington Times. ...read more read less