RNC has a new target in legal attack on voter rolls

On March 27, the Republican National Committee (RNC) sued Delaware for access to the state’s voter registration lists, which it claims it needs to ensure their accuracy. 

The case is just the latest lawsuit the RNC has filed in recent years to gain access to state voter rolls. The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) also is seeking to obtain voter rolls from all 50 states — an unprecedented federal intrusion on state authority to run elections. 

In the Delaware case, the RNC is asking a court to force State Election Commissioner Anthony J. Albence to produce the lists so that it can inspect and make copies “of records concerning programs and activities undertaken to maintain the accuracy and currency of Delaware’s official lists of eligible voters.”

Citing the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA), the RNC says it needs access to the registration records for “coordinating party fundraising” and “election strategy” efforts, and to ensure the state is complying with federal election laws.

“The RNC is harmed by inaccurate voter registration lists and its inability to confirm list accuracy,” reads the RNC’s complaint. 

However, the RNC has recently launched several campaigns to gain access to state voter registration lists in efforts to question their veracity or to initiate the purging of hundreds of thousands of voters, often under questionable voter maintenance procedures. 

In February, the RNC settled a 2024 lawsuit in North Carolina, where it was prevented from purging nearly 225,000 voters due to disputes with how the state kept registration records. In the past year, courts have also thwarted RNC attempts to purge state voter lists in Arizona and Michigan. Meanwhile, the RNC is still actively pursuing access to registration records in several other states including Maryland, New Jersey, Hawaii and Nevada. 

In the RNC’s Delaware filing, it claims that access to the lists is “essential” not just for verifying accuracy, but also “for the purpose of conducting voter communications, get-out-the-vote activities, and other political activities, as well as for its efforts to ensure election integrity and to support election administration.”

This is softer motive language than the RNC and other right-wing groups have used in recent lawsuits, where they’ve claimed hypothetical instances of voter fraud due to states allegedly keeping poor maintenance of registration lists.

However, courts have consistently rejected such litigation strategies, saying that the parties suing must show real-life cases of voter fraud stemming from faulty voter registration record-keeping. 

The larger concern for pro-voting advocates is giving non-government parties – particularly those promoting restrictive voter policies – too much access to sensitive voter information and influence over how states manage voter lists.

Reckless purging is one major risk, but there’s also the danger of such parties using this access and influence to sow discord and confusion among voters under the false pretense of “election integrity.”

Combined with the DOJ’s recent wave of lawsuits against dozens of states for its unredacted voter rolls, these cases appear part of a broader agenda from the Trump administration and GOP to gain unfettered access to voter information and wrest control of elections away from states.