DELAWARE - The American Civil Liberties Union of Delaware and the national ACLU say they have filed motions to intervene in U.S. v. Albence on behalf of several clients including the Delaware Coalition Against Domestic Violence (DCADV), La Esperanza and the Latin American Community Center (LACC) to protect Delawareans’ sensitive personal data from misuse by the federal government.
According to the ACLU, the motion to intervene as defendants was accompanied by a motion to dismiss the case. The U.S. filed the lawsuit seeking to compel the State of Delaware to disclose sensitive personal voter data, such as driver’s license numbers and Social Security information, for hundreds of thousands of Delawareans.
The ACLU says that the U.S Department of Justice (DOJ) sent a letter on July 11, 2025, to the Delaware State Election Commissioner, Anthony Albence. In the letter DOJ had requested information about registered Delaware voters who were ineligible to vote due to circumstances like citizenship status. ACLU says the DOJ offered no evidence to suggest that this alleged widespread registration of ineligible voters actually exists in Delaware.
The DOJ had also asked in the first letter and then again on Aug. 14, 2025, that Delaware provide the entire statewide voter registration list with "all fields, including the registrant’s full name, date of birth, residential address, his or her state driver’s license number or the last four digits of the registrant’s social security number," according to the ACLU. They say that no explanation was given for why this information was needed.
The ACLU says that the federal government was unsatisfied with the state’s offer of the public voter registration list that is available to all of Delaware.
The Privacy Act protects all Delawareans’ sensitive data, particularly any data connected to First Amendment activity as well as the Delaware state law which is legal measures intended to safeguard the rights of voters and protect them from discrimination and invasions of privacy.
According to the ACLU, the DOJ failed to answer Delaware officials when asked how the requested data could be transferred without violating state or federal law and failed to state a legally sufficient basis and purpose under federal law for the request.
A recently departed DOJ lawyer had indicated that the current administration tasked the Civil Rights Division with "obtaining states’ voter rolls, by suing them if necessary." The federal government initiated a lawsuit against Delaware, one of over 20 similar lawsuits it has filed to forcibly compel the State to disclose sensitive voter data, according to the ACLU.
"Protecting everyone's sensitive data from this inappropriate request is critical to ensuring all Delawareans have confidence in our elections," said Andrew Bernstein, civic engagement counsel at ACLU of Delaware and attorney for the proposed-intervenors. "For certain voters, such as immigrants and survivors of domestic violence, the potential consequences associated with misuse of their sensitive data are particularly grave. No one should have to worry about these risks when exercising their right to vote."
The ACLU says that recent events in Minnesota show that the administration has linked this effort to its anti-immigration agenda and its heavy-handed and escalating threats to states controlled by perceived political enemies.
"The Delaware Coalition Against Domestic Violence is committed to protecting the privacy and confidentiality of domestic violence survivors, including their voter registration information," stated the organization's executive director Sue Ryan. "Confidentiality is crucial for protecting a victim’s safety. DCADV strongly supports the State of Delaware and the ACLU in their efforts to protect the privacy of voters."