WV Secretary of State Kris Warner says he will not release personal voter information to U.S. Department of Justice

Charleston, WV (WOAY) West Virginia Secretary of State Kris Warner says his office will not release the personal identifying information of registered voters to the U.S. Department of Justice.  

Warner says the DOJ requested detailed voter data from states nationwide, including social security numbers, driver’s license numbers, and other sensitive information.  

In a written response, Warner says state law allows voter lists to be shared only in redacted form and that turning over protected data would violate that law.  

He points to a recent ruling in Michigan, where a federal judge dismissed a DOJ lawsuit after that state also refused to provide unredacted voter files, saying federal law does not give the DOJ authority to demand them.  

Warner says his responsibility is to protect West Virginians’ privacy while maintaining election integrity.  

The secretary of state’s office reports that over the past nine years, more than 408-thousand outdated or ineligible registrations have been removed from the rolls.  

More information is available at sos.wv.gov.