Maine elections chief Shenna Bellows has a new ally trying to stop the federal government from making sure illegals aren’t stuffing the Democrat ballot boxes.
Enter the Maine League of Women Voters, which is now intervening to help Bellows in her fight to – let’s just call it what it is – make sure elections favor Democrats.
The League announced Monday it’s received a federal judge’s OK to become a co-defendant in DOJ vs. Bellows.
The Justice Department took Maine’s secretary of state and governor-hopeful to court earlier this year to get access to voters’ personal information.
The DoJ under President Trump is trying to ensure that people casting votes in Maine have legal status.
The League said in a statement Monday it’s full-square behind Bellows’ attempts to keep her voter Rolodex to herself.
Bellows told the DOJ to “go jump in the Gulf of Maine” this past summer in response to its initial request for voter records.
While she has argued that the department is seeking to obtain protected personal identifying information, the DOJ has countered that it needs the requested information to ensure that the state is in compliance with election law.
The League said it “continues its work to protect voters’ personal data, such as driver’s license numbers and Social Security numbers.”
Jill Ward, league president, called the DOJ lawsuit “a case of overreach by the federal government.”
Meanwhile, the State of Maine on Friday filed a motion in U.S. District Court in Portland seeking to dismiss a U.S. Department of Justice lawsuit that demands access to sensitive voter data. The case, United States of America v. Shenna Bellows, centers on whether the federal government can compel Maine to turn over personal voter information.
Bellows framed the lawsuit as an unconstitutional power grab, arguing that election administration belongs to the states. She cited an earlier effort during the first Trump administration, when states across the political spectrum declined to provide voter data.
“Maine elections are free, safe and secure,” Bellows said, accusing the DOJ of using “bully tactics” and attempting to wrest control of elections away from the states.
It looks like Bellows and the League are reading off the same script.
