Silence can speak louder than words.
Just ask Rhode Island Secretary of State Gregg Amore, who as of Friday afternoon had yet to respond to a U.S. Department of Justice request for information about registered voters. Rhode Island is among a growing number of mostly Democratic states facing federal probes into voter rolls, ranging from basic lists of registrants to massive documentation requests including ballots cast and voting equipment used in the 2024 election.
The July 8 email Amore’s office received from Scott Laragy, principal deputy director in the Executive Office for United States Attorneys, is far less expansive and detailed than requests made to other states. Laragy asked Amore for a phone meeting to discuss a “potential information-sharing agreement,” that would give the DOJ information on state registered voters who lack eligibility, have falsified documents or “may otherwise have engaged in unlawful conduct relevant to the election process.”
Eight days later, Amore had not responded to Laragy — Amore’s office was still reviewing the request, Faith Chybowski, a spokesperson for Amore, confirmed in an email. Chybowski was unsure when, or if, Amore plans to answer the DOJ.
But the Democrat and former high school history teacher is not keeping mum on his feelings about the probe.
“This is a highly unusual request as the States are Constitutionally empowered to manage all aspects of elections that are not otherwise mandated by federal law,” Amore said in an emailed statement. “It appears this is a continued attempt to promote the false claim that the 2020 election was stolen and to undermine confidence in our elections—pretty consistent playbook from the Trump people.”
John Marion, executive director of Common Cause Rhode Island, backed Amore’s approach.
“It’s right for Secretary Amore to be both cautious and skeptical of the request, given the history of this administration’s propagation of lies about voter fraud,” Marion said in an interview.
Trump has continued to promote claims that the 2020 election, in which he lost to Joe Biden was rigged. Since returning to office, he has turned the magnifying glass back on state and local election administrators. In March, Trump issued an executive order directing U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi to scour states in search of election-related crimes, authorizing her to cut off federal funding to states that refused to cooperate.
Voter rolls are already public
State voter records in Rhode Island are public — available upon request to anybody who fills out an online form and pays a $25 fee. But the information the DOJ has asked for in other states includes sensitive personal data like Social Security numbers and driver’s licenses, which are protected under federal and state law, and typically redacted in fulfilling public records requests.
Laragy’s email to Amore did not indicate what information he wanted regarding Rhode Island voters. However, the information-sharing agreements referred to in both the email and Trump’s executive order single out voters who are registered, or have voted, despite being ineligible; those who have committed election fraud; and those who have intimidated or threatened voters or election officials, among other targeted groups.
This information is likely also public record, as anyone who threatens elections officials, falsifies information on registration forms or commits election fraud would be charged with a crime, Marion said.
In 2017, Rhode Island was asked to supply Trump’s Election Integrity Commission with personal information from its voter rolls, including the last four digits of Social Security numbers for voters dating back to 2006. Then-Secretary of State Nellie Gorbea and Gov. Gina Raimondo refused to comply with handing over any sensitive information not normally included in a standard public records request, according to news reports.
While the 2017 probe was sent to all 50 states, the latest set of requests center on Democratic and swing states, with at least nine states receiving formal written requests for information, according to Stateline.
Responses have been varied. In Colorado, which faces the most sweeping set of data requests, the Secretary of State’s office provided the DOJ with the same master voter file and voting history available to other members of the public. Wisconsin’s Secretary of State referred federal attorneys to the information on how to request public voter data, while Republicans in Indiana and Alabama inked deals with the Trump administration authorizing access to citizenship information for state voters.
Laragy said in his email to Amore that the information would be used to “protect the integrity of federal elections.” But Marion countered not that none of the information being sought would improve elections integrity.
“Instead, it could very well put information at risk,” Marion said, noting that Trump’s executive order also requires sensitive, personal voter data be shared with the U.S. Department of Government Efficiency.
State-level protections needed
Marion says the Trump administration has already proven its disregard for voting protections, including crucial provisions codified under the 1965 Voting Rights Act, which aims to prevent race-based discrimination in voting access and provide access to voters with limited English proficiency. As the U.S. Supreme Court considers arguments in a case that could further degrade the once-powerful voting rights statute, Marion is looking to erect state-level safeguards via passage of a state Voting Rights Act.
“We are going to need state-level protections in the absence of federal protections,” Marion said. “The federal Voting Rights Act isn’t going to be enforced by the DOJ.”
A state statute would ensure that Spanish-speaking voters in Pawtucket can access ballots in their native language — a provision originally required under a May 2024 federal consent agreement following a years-long investigation that showed the city had failed to provide required accommodations to Spanish-speaking voters. Marion worried that without continued federal oversight, those voters, and others throughout the state, could see their access diminished.
Nine other states, including Connecticut, have enacted similar state-level voting rights protections.
Marion publicly pitched the idea during a public speech at a “Good Trouble” rally in Newport Thursday night, taking Amore, who was also a scheduled speaker at the event, by surprise, Marion said.
“It’s in the early stages,” Marion said Friday, noting he had not spoken with legislative leaders, or drafted any bill language yet.
This story was originally published by the Rhode Island Current.
