Pasayten's Methow Valley Bulletin Board

52 U.S.C. § 20703 is a federal law, specifically a section of the Civil Rights Act of 1960, which grants the U.S. Attorney General the authority to demand access to state and local election records for inspection and copying.
In Washington state, this code has been the subject of a recent lawsuit filed by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) against the state's chief election official, Secretary of State Steve Hobbs.
Key Details of 52 U.S.C. § 20703
Purpose: The statute requires any record or paper related to voting and elections that officials are required to retain to be made available for inspection and copying upon written demand by the U.S. Attorney General or their representative.
Scope: The demand must include a statement of its basis and purpose.
Confidentiality: Records obtained under this authority can generally only be disclosed to Congress, government agencies, and in legal proceedings.
The Situation in Washington State
In September 2025, the Assistant Attorney General sent a written demand to Secretary Hobbs for an electronic copy of Washington's complete and current voter registration list, including fields like names, dates of birth, residential addresses, and driver's license or Social Security numbers.
Secretary Hobbs refused the demand, citing Washington state privacy laws (RCW 29A.08.710 and RCW 29A.08.720) that prohibit the release of sensitive voter information beyond a limited set of publicly available data fields.
Consequently, in December 2025, the DOJ filed a lawsuit against Washington State, arguing that federal law preempts state privacy concerns and that the refusal to provide the records violates 52 U.S.C. § 20703. The DOJ is seeking a court order to compel the state to produce the records to investigate Washington's compliance with list-maintenance requirements under federal voting laws.
The DOJ has filed similar lawsuits against several other states that have also refused to provide unredacted voter data."

Nothing to go wrong other than SEC of State Hobbs being charged under federal election laws for violating
52. USC 20507
52. USC 20701
&
52 USC 20703
To bad certain a political party finds everything the opposite party does that is questionable but fails to even acknowledge their party is flagrantly violating the law. Who knows maybe a new SoS will need to be appointed that realizes they aren't above the law and reach of true justice

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DOJ sues to get information on WA voters….

A link to a Seattle Times piece - without paywall: https://archive.ph/y9iEJ

“ The U.S. Department of Justice sued Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs on Tuesday over his refusal to turn over a trove of personal information about every registered voter in the state.

Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon in September requested a copy of Washington’s complete voter database, including full names, birth dates and partial Social Security or driver’s license numbers.….”

What could possibly go wrong, here….?
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