Why Should Delaware Care?
The Trump administration is suing Delaware in an attempt to obtain the addresses, driver’s license numbers and partial Social Security numbers for thousands of Delawareans. Delaware is one of more than 20 states being sued by the Trump administration for voter data, which advocates say represents a federal overreach that may dissuade Delawareans from voting.
Delaware immigrant advocacy groups asked a judge to dismiss a federal lawsuit brought forth by the Trump administration demanding state election officials turn over sensitive voter information to the federal government.
The organizations filed motions to intervene and to dismiss the ongoing case between the U.S. Department of Justice and the Delaware Department of Elections on Wednesday. The American Civil Liberties Union of Delaware, La Esperanza, the Latin American Community Center and the Delaware Coalition Against Domestic Violence all asked to join the case and dismiss the lawsuit.
“Immigrant citizens are at risk of wrongful targeting for immigration enforcement when the federal government has their data,” said Maria Matos, president and CEO of the Latin American Community Center, in a written statement to the court.
The U.S. Department of Justice first filed the lawsuit against Delaware Elections Commissioner Anthony Albence in December as the administration sought to obtain sensitive voter information, such as driver’s license numbers, residential addresses and partial Social Security numbers, for thousands of Delaware residents.
The organizations’ leaders argued in court filings that sharing the sensitive information would deter eligible Latino and immigrant residents from voting and heighten anxieties about how their information is being shared with other federal agencies.
Disclosure of the information also would be “disastrous” for domestic violence survivor safety, privacy and confidence, Sue Ryan, executive director of the Delaware Coalition Against Domestic Violence, said in a written statement to the court.
The Department of Justice has argued that it needs the detailed information to ensure that ineligible people are kept off voter rolls and that only U.S. citizens are voting. The request for voters’ information comes amid President Donald Trump’s insistence that the 2020 election was stolen from him due to widespread voter fraud.
“Accurate voter rolls are the cornerstone of fair and free elections, and too many states have fallen into a pattern of noncompliance with basic voter roll maintenance,” said Attorney General Pamela Bondi in a written news release when the DOJ announced Delaware’s lawsuit.
When reached for comment, the DOJ referred Spotlight Delaware to Bondi’s written comments made in December.
Since last May, the DOJ has demanded that nearly every state hand over detailed voter information. The agency has sued over 20 states and Washington, D.C., for not complying with its demands.
At least 11 states – mostly Republican-led – have provided or agreed to pass along their full statewide voter registration lists, according to the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University’s Law School, an organization tracking the requests.
Delaware Elections Commissioner Anthony Albence declined to comment on the lawsuit, as the department does not comment on any pending litigation, a spokesperson said.
Red Clay School Board member Jose Matthews also joined the organizations’ petition to join the case and dismiss the lawsuit. Two other Delaware residents, including a Widener University law school professor, previously joined the lawsuit due to worries that the Trump administration would retaliate against them for their views if their private voter information was shared.
Letters lead to lawsuit
The December lawsuit stemmed from back-and-forth letters between the U.S. Department of Justice’s Voting Rights Division and the Delaware Department of Elections, arguing over how much information to share.
The DOJ sent the first letter to Albence in July 2025, asking for voter data that included names, birth dates, addresses, political party affiliations, voting history and legislative district information.
The federal government also requested driver’s license numbers or the last four digits of Social Security numbers alongside all information pertaining to non-citizens and convicted felons who have been ruled ineligible to vote since November 2022.
In September, Albence formally refused to provide the detailed voter information to the DOJ, according to court records. To date, Delaware has only provided data that excludes the more sensitive, non-public information.
“Absent appropriate protections, Delawareans’ information could be compromised or misused, or Delawareans could be deterred from exercising their First Amendment rights to register to vote, to affiliate with a party, and to vote,” Albence wrote in a September letter.
In his denial, Albence cited Delaware state law that protects private information as an impediment to the federal government’s wishes, noting that he is prohibited from sharing it even within the state government.
On Wednesday, the federal judge overseeing the case granted the organizations’ motion to intervene in the case. The judge has made no ruling on the motion to dismiss.
