Fontes rejects DOJ request for Arizona's full voter registration database

The big picture: Arizona is one of at least 21 states from which the DOJ has requested voter rolls, according to the Brennan Center for Justice.

• The Trump administration has recently taken an interest in how states oversee voting and elections.
• President Trump said last month he'll issue an executive order to eliminate mail voting — used by a majority of Arizona voters — despite a lack of constitutional authority.
• He also said he'll order voter IDs be required in all states, which is already on the books in Arizona.

Catch up quick: On July 28, Michael Gates and Maureen Riordan of the DOJ's Civil Rights Division requested a copy of Arizona's voter registration list.

• Gates, deputy assistant attorney general, and Riordan, acting chief of the division's Voting Section, also requested information about how the state maintains voter rolls in compliance with federal law and how it identifies ineligible voters.
• In a follow-up on Aug. 14, Harmeet Dhillon, who leads the Civil Rights Division, reiterated the request and emphasized it includes voters' dates of birth, addresses, and either their driver's license or the last four digits of their Social Security numbers.
• She added the information would be subject to federal privacy protections.

Driving the news: Fontes informed Dhillon last Friday that state law prohibits him from releasing much of the information DOJ sought, and it would be a felony for public officials to release it.

• He also said the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA), which DOJ cited, permits states to withhold sensitive information.
• Before he could provide the database, Fontes wrote he needed information about how the DOJ would comply with federal privacy laws.

What he's saying: Arizona voters "have important privacy rights that cannot be infringed because they choose to exercise their constitutionally protected civil rights," Fontes wrote.

• In a press statement he added the request raises "serious legal and constitutional concerns."

The other side: A DOJ spokesperson declined to comment on what the department's next step will be.

Yes, but: Dhilon, in a statement provided to Axios, said, "Clean voter rolls and basic election safeguards are requisites for free, fair, and transparent elections." The Civil Rights Division "has a statutory mandate to enforce our federal voting rights laws, and ensuring the public's confidence in the integrity of our elections is a top priority of this administration."

• Dhillon and Gates wrote the NVRA requires states to make records available to ensure "accuracy and currency" of voter rolls, and the Civil Rights Act of 1960 empowers the U.S. attorney general to request voter registration records.
• DOJ has not responded to Fontes' Aug. 29 letter, per the Secretary of State's Office.

Context: For years, Trump and many of his allies have falsely claimed that the 2020 election was stolen, often blaming mail-in ballots as a source of widespread fraud, despite a lack of evidence.