The US State Department plans to expand access to passport records, enabling state and local officials, along with select nonprofit organizations, to utilize this information for verifying voter eligibility. This initiative follows a notice sent to key lawmakers, as reported by Bloomberg. The move aims to enhance the integrity of voter registration processes across the country.
The proposal would add “voter eligibility” to the list of approved “routine uses” for the State Department’s passport -services records. The department told Bloomberg that it does not comment on pending litigation. The move comes as the Trump administration pushes for greater use of federal databases to help states verify citizenship and review voter rolls. The proposed change would broaden those permitted uses to include voter eligibility checks. It could also allow access beyond government entities, although the State Department notice does not identify which nonprofit organizations could qualify. The agency did not immediately provide comment on the passport-record proposal. The Justice Department disclosed the State Department’s plan in a court filing this week as part of ongoing litigation over President Donald Trump’s election-related executive order. US elections are primarily administered by states and local governments, making the administration’s expanded use of federal records a contentious issue. That process means the proposal would move forward after the midterms, when control of Congress will be contested.
The records contain sensitive citizenship and identity information and have historically been accessed mainly by government agencies for specific purposes.
