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Nebraska intends to release voter data to the federal government on Feb 12.The Secretary of State told KETV months ago he wouldn’t address the request until a lawsuit against it was over. Secretary Bob Evnen said the data the Department of Justice is requesting is to determine compliance with the Help America Vote Act and National Voter Registration Act, but Evnen noted the increasing immigrant numbers are prompting the DOJ to ensure voter rolls are clean.“It’s a fair question,” Evnen said. “Have any of these people wound up on our voter registration lists?”The DOJ said in a statement to KETV the request is “to ensure that states have proper voter registration procedures and programs to maintain clean voter rolls containing only eligible voters in federal elections.”Common Cause’s Executive Director Gavin Geis called it a “federal overreach.”“From our perspective, we shouldn’t have to wait until Nebraskans experience harm,” Geis said.READ MORE: Voter advocacy group files appeal after court clears secretary of state to give Nebraska voter data to DOJThe group appealed against the court’s decision to dismiss the lawsuit.“They didn’t decide whether or not the Secretary of State could release the data,” Geis said. “They left that as a completely open-ended question.”In previous coverage, KETV told you the Department of Justice is requesting personally identifiable information such as the last four digits of social security numbers or driver’s license, and an exact date of birth.“The Attorney General said, yes, they have a right to ask for this. We have to comply with this,” Secretary Bob Evnen said.We asked the Attorney General’s Office about this, and it replied no comment. Geis said Nebraska voters are worried.“They view this as a genuine states’ rights privacy issue,” Geis said. “They don’t feel comfortable right now having their voter data released to the federal government, especially given what we’re seeing in Minnesota.”University of Nebraska-Lincoln cybersecurity expert said this database will be protected like how the country’s military data is protected.READ MORE: Lawmakers seek clarity on future of Nebraska voter data as DOJ pushes for access“I am confident they have the system to protect all the data they are taking,” Nirnimesh Ghose said. “And I hope they use their system to protect it.”His big question is how the data is provided, saying the safest ways are hand delivering a disk with the information or, “do they have some kind of a secured VPN or some kind of a tunnel network to transfer it, rather, without getting sniffed on the way?”Evnen said Nebraskans’ private information is safe. “The Department of Justice gave assurances that they would follow privacy statutes,” Evnen said.Make sure you can always see the latest news, weather, sports and more from KETV NewsWatch 7 on Google Search.NAVIGATE: Home | Weather | Local News | National | Sports | Newscasts on demand |
Nebraska intends to release voter data to the federal government on Feb 12.
The Secretary of State told KETV months ago he wouldn’t address the request until a lawsuit against it was over.
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Secretary Bob Evnen said the data the Department of Justice is requesting is to determine compliance with the Help America Vote Act and National Voter Registration Act, but Evnen noted the increasing immigrant numbers are prompting the DOJ to ensure voter rolls are clean.
“It’s a fair question,” Evnen said. “Have any of these people wound up on our voter registration lists?”
The DOJ said in a statement to KETV the request is “to ensure that states have proper voter registration procedures and programs to maintain clean voter rolls containing only eligible voters in federal elections.”
Common Cause’s Executive Director Gavin Geis called it a “federal overreach.”
“From our perspective, we shouldn’t have to wait until Nebraskans experience harm,” Geis said.
The group appealed against the court’s decision to dismiss the lawsuit.
“They didn’t decide whether or not the Secretary of State could release the data,” Geis said. “They left that as a completely open-ended question.”
In previous coverage, KETV told you the Department of Justice is requesting personally identifiable information such as the last four digits of social security numbers or driver’s license, and an exact date of birth.
“The Attorney General said, yes, they have a right to ask for this. We have to comply with this,” Secretary Bob Evnen said.
We asked the Attorney General’s Office about this, and it replied no comment. Geis said Nebraska voters are worried.
“They view this as a genuine states’ rights privacy issue,” Geis said. “They don’t feel comfortable right now having their voter data released to the federal government, especially given what we’re seeing in Minnesota.”
University of Nebraska-Lincoln cybersecurity expert said this database will be protected like how the country’s military data is protected.
READ MORE: Lawmakers seek clarity on future of Nebraska voter data as DOJ pushes for access
“I am confident they have the system to protect all the data they are taking,” Nirnimesh Ghose said. “And I hope they use their system to protect it.”
His big question is how the data is provided, saying the safest ways are hand delivering a disk with the information or, “do they have some kind of a secured VPN or some kind of a tunnel network to transfer it, rather, without getting sniffed on the way?”
Evnen said Nebraskans’ private information is safe. “The Department of Justice gave assurances that they would follow privacy statutes,” Evnen said.
Make sure you can always see the latest news, weather, sports and more from KETV NewsWatch 7 on Google Search.
NAVIGATE: Home | Weather | Local News | National | Sports | Newscasts on demand |
