West Virginia Secretary of State Kris Warner
CHARLESTON – West Virginia Secretary of State has been sued by the federal government for refusing to turn over state voter information.
The complaint, filed February 26 in federal court, says Warner’s actions violate Title III of the Civil Rights Act and requests he provided a computerized list of the state’s voter registration list that includes names, birthdates, addresses and either the driver’s license numbers, the last four digits of Social Security numbers or unique Help America Vote Act identifier. It also requests any other federal election records as requested by the U.S. Attorney General.
Earlier this month, Warner denied the Attorney General Pam Bondi’s request for the information, citing sensitive personal information.
Bondi
“West Virginians entrust me with their sensitive personal information. Turning it over to the federal government, which is contrary to State law, will simply not happen,” Warner said then. “State law is clear: voter lists are available in a redacted format from my office, but I'll not be turning over any West Virginian’s protected information.”
The DOJ announce the West Virginia lawsuit Thursday as well as similar ones against Kentucky, New Jersey, Oklahoma and Utah. It now has sued 29 states as well as the District of Columbia for the voter information.
“Accurate, well-maintained voter rolls are a requisite for the election integrity that the American people deserve,” Bondi said.
On Thursday, Warner’s Communications Director Mike Queen told The West Virginia Record his office didn’t know about the lawsuit until we asked about it.
“This media report is the first we've seen of a lawsuit naming the state of West Virginia,” Queen told The Record. “We have not been served. Regardless, I think Secretary Warner's comments to the DOJ were pretty clear.
“Bring it on! The federal government is not going to get any personal information on West Virginia voters as long as Kris Warner is Secretary of State.”
According to the eight-page complaint, Bondi asked Warner for West Virginia voter registration information as part of an investigation into whether the state is complying with federal election laws, including the CRA, HAVA and the National Voter Registration Act.
“Title III of the Civil Rights Act of 1960 imposes a ‘sweeping’ obligation on election officials to ‘retain and preserve … all records and papers which come into [their] possession relating to any application, registration, payment of poll tax, or other act requisite to voting in such election,’” the complaint states. “Title III likewise grants the Attorney General the sweeping power to obtain these records.”
The complaint also says if the custodian of such records refuses to comply, the act requires “a special statutory proceeding in which the courts play a limited, albeit vital, role” in assisting the Attorney General’s investigative powers. It also says the Attorney General need only show that she made a “written demand” for records covered by Section 301 of the CRA and that “the person against whom an order for production is sought … has failed or refused to make such papers ‘available for inspection, reproduction, and copying.’”
“The court does not adjudicate ‘the factual foundation for, or the sufficiency of, the Attorney General’s “statement of the basis and the purpose” contained in the written demand’ or ‘the scope of the order to produce. …’”
The complaint says the CRA requires state and local officials to retain and preserve voter registration records regarding federal elections for 22 months. It says the AG asked Warner for such records on September 8, 2025. Warner responded two weeks later refusing to provide the information for all requested fields.
Bondi sent follow-up emails December 10, December 19 and January 13 renewing the request. On February 11, Warner sent a letter explaining again he would not provide West Virginia’s information for all requested fields.
The federal government says Warner is in violation of the Civil Rights Act and asks the court to require him to provide the information within five days of a requested court order.
The complaint was filed by Assistant U.S. AG Harmeet K. Dhillon, Acting Deputy Assistant AG Robert J. Keenan, Acting Chief Voting Section Eric V. Neff and Voting Section attorney Brittany E. Bennett, all of the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division.
Warner previously noted that on February 10, a Trump-appointed federal judge dismissed the DOJ’s lawsuit against the Michigan Secretary of State who also refused to turn over voters’ personal data. The judge ruled no federal law, including the Help America Vote Act, National Voter Registration Act or Civil Rights Act of 1960, give the DOJ authority to demand and receive states’ unredacted voter registration files.
"My responsibility is first and foremost to the citizens of West Virginia,” Warner said earlier this month. “We will comply with the law, which does not allow us to release protected data. We have offered to work cooperatively with the federal government to maintain the continuity of elections nationwide, but the DOJ doesn't have authority to run a state's elections.
“I support efforts to strengthen election integrity, but I will not break the law, give up our state’s rights, or compromise the privacy of our citizens.”
The Secretary of State’s Office reports that in the last nine years, more than 408,000 outdated, abandoned, out of state, or otherwise ineligible voter registration records have been cancelled. At the same time, more than 350,000 new voter registrations have been added to the rolls.
“The DOJ claims it wants to enforce voter list maintenance laws and receiving West Virginians’ personal information is the way to do it,” Warner said. “I dare say that the DOJ cannot do a better job than the 55 West Virginia county clerks who have accomplished the herculean task of refreshing more than half of the state’s voter rolls over the last nine years and continue to do so on a daily basis.”
Warner said ensuring transparency in elections does not require sacrificing the privacy rights of voters.
“West Virginians expect secure elections and the assurance that their personal information is protected,” Warner said. “That remains my commitment, and I have no interest in turning over the entire state’s unredacted voter list for some brownie points from the federal government.
“Indeed, we each have our roles in election integrity, but this request is far outside the federal government’s lane.”
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia case number 2:26-cv-00156
