Courier Journal: Jefferson Co. Seeks to Protect Voter Data
Killian Baarlaer, Courier Journal
March 17, 2026 - The Jefferson County Clerk's Office is seeking to intervene in a U.S. Department of Justice lawsuit against Kentucky election officials, arguing the office has an interest in protecting local voters' registration information.
Jefferson County Clerk David Yates filed a motion to intervene along with supporting documents on March 16, according to court records. As the top election official tasked with administering Jefferson County voter registration records, Yates argues he is responsible for protecting the sensitive information sought by the DOJ and will be impacted by the lawsuit's outcome.
The new court filings in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky follow the DOJ's lawsuit in late February against several Kentucky election officials, including Republican Secretary of State Michael Adams, aiming to compel the release of the commonwealth's unredacted voter registration list.
"… the Clerk moves to intervene in order to defend citizens of Jefferson County against the federal government's usurpation of their private and personal information. The Clerk seeks to intervene because this litigation directly impacts the Jefferson County Clerk's legal duties and may impede such duties or lead to conflicting legal obligations," a memorandum in support of the clerk's motion states.
Yates spoke about the legal action at a news conference March 17, alongside Jefferson County Attorney Mike O'Connell and Civil Division Director Sarah Martin, who will oversee the legal work.
"This lawsuit directly affects my office's responsibilities, and it is essential that the voices and privacy rights of Jefferson County citizens are strongly defended," Yates said.
Martin said the motion to intervene, if granted, will allow the Jefferson County clerk to argue its case before the court.
The DOJ's complaint said the department sought voter information to check Kentucky's compliance with various federal voting laws and that Kentucky's refusal to turn over the information violates the Civil Rights Act of 1960. In a news release, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said the lawsuit underscores how the DOJ is "fulfilling its duty to ensure transparency, voter roll maintenance and secure elections across the country."
The Kentucky State Board of Elections filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit March 10, court records show. While the board has refused to disclose certain sensitive information, it has provided the DOJ with a redacted voter registration list, according to the motion.
Information the DOJ is seeking includes voters’ full names, dates of birth, addresses, and driver's license numbers or last four digits of their Social Security numbers.
"Kentucky law protects voters' personal information, and I will not voluntarily commit a data breach by providing Kentuckians’ personal data to the federal bureaucracy unless a court order tells me to," Adams previously told The Courier Journal in a statement.
The DOJ has filed dozens of other lawsuits against states to obtain voter rolls.
At the March 17 news conference, Yates said he is the first county clerk in the U.S. to take this sort of legal action. Yates voiced concerns about how President Donald Trump's DOJ intends to use the unredacted voter rolls.
"Given President Trump's record of attacking elected officials and voters, his Department of Justice demanding protected centralized voter data raises legitimate concerns, and it will be used to target lawful voters and purge communities for political advantage," the clerk said.