New Washington law blocks counties from turning over voter data sought by federal government

OLYMPIA – Gov. Bob Ferguson signed legislation Wednesday that restricts counties from sharing information about Washington voters, including names, dates of birth, addresses and either a driver’s license number or the last four digits of their Social Security number upon request.

The legislation, which was requested by Secretary of State Steve Hobbs, was written in response to the federal government’s attempts to obtain the information from Washington and other states throughout the country, requests Hobbs has so far refused, citing privacy concerns and state and federal law.

Violation of the new law would be a Class C felony. Under the law, only the Secretary of State would be authorized to turn over such data.

Ferguson said the legislation, which was sponsored by state Sen. Marcus Riccelli, D-Spokane, “clarifies” state law.

“There’s obviously been a national effort at accessing this information, as we know,” Ferguson said Wednesday. “I just so appreciate being governor of a state that works so hard to protect that information, which is the right thing to do. It’s the lawful thing to do in the face of those attacks.”

The Department of Justice first requested the data in September as part of the White House’s increased efforts to crack down on electoral systems throughout the country.

Following the request in September, a spokesperson for the Department of Justice said, “Enforcing the Nation’s elections laws is a priority in this administration and in the Civil Rights Division.”

“The recent request by the Civil Rights Division for state voter rolls is pursuant to that statutory authority, and the responsive data is being screened for ineligible voter entries,” the statement said.

Officials in Washington balked at the idea and expressed concern about what the administration could do with the requested information sought from 22 states.

Hobbs has said that the information requested is considered protected under state law, saying in September that as the state’s chief election official, “it is my responsibility to ensure the election process is safe, secure and transparent.”

In December, the Trump administration filed a federal lawsuit against Hobbs to compel the state to turn over the information about Washington voters. At the time, Hobbs said his office would be willing to work with the Department of Justice to hand over information without personal information, but “I have had no response from them.”

At the time, the Department of Justice filed similar lawsuits against election officials in Maryland, Delaware, New Mexico, Rhode Island and Vermont.

On Tuesday, Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond announced he would release voter data in exchange for the Department of Justice dismissing its federal lawsuit against the state Election Secretary seeking the information.

Last month, Hobbs told reporters the federal government had filed three separate lawsuits against Washington seeking the data due to filing errors.

“We have really good attorneys, so we can help them file properly if that’s the issue,” Hobbs joked.

After the lawsuit was announced in December, Ferguson said that if the Department of Justice were to file a lawsuit, “we’re very confident we’ll be successful in court.”

“Our success rate against the administration is very, very high, as you well know, and we’re confident that if they choose to sue us again, if this is real, then we’ll be successful,” Ferguson said.