Bondi's extortionary demand for the Minnesota voter rolls is curious. Minnesota's voter rolls, like those of most states, are essentially public, including name, address, phone number (if given), and elections voted in. The only information redacted (by law) is DoB, SSN (etc) and which party's primary elections they chose to vote in.
One can only speculate on why DoJ would want the redacted information.
@mattblaze
Names and addresses are of limited help in identifying specific individuals, especially when a name is common or they're renting. SSN is a unique identifier, and would be ideal for tying some types of additional data to the voter.
So someone wants a (better) database of voters. That could be used to engage in more selective intimidation and purges/challenges to voter rolls, used for targeted political advertising, and/or be sold to the highest bidder for mundane commercial advertising.
Or the attempt to collect the data could merely be a threat crafted to stir up discontent. But it's bad timing for that and this hasn't been an Administration of empty threats, so I doubt it.
@mattblaze
We know why they want the info, but demanding it in a ransom note on DoJ letterhead was, uh, kind of an unforced error. Whatever large feline that bites asses is going to make an appearance.
@oldhaapi I actually don’t know why they want this. I can speculate, but none of the obvious explanations make complete sense.
@mattblaze
If they can claim that they have "all the data", then they can commence lying about it, either after the elections, or challenging voters prior to elections to intimidate or fully disenfranchise them.
@oldhaapi the basic data is already publicly available. Only a few fields aren’t. See the link in my post for details.
They want it to go door to door or by social media to every single voter to intimidate and threaten their lives if the vote against Republicans.
If that doesn't work, they will fight and murder people to ensure the election is not certified.
Failing that, they will start wars to ensure they remain in control.
Fascism in a nutshell.
Sleeping on it. Have a good night!
Having worked with redacted data, I'm not so sure its always hidden nowadays.
Safer to not release files at all.
It's OBVIOUS the goal is rigged elections, elections that can only ever be won by the authoritatian's machine.
@unruly Sorry if you find my comments obvious or unhelpful.
I meant to boost your toot. It's obvious to some, some are in denial, some just can't see the fascist plan even though it's textbook.
preparing guantanamo hotel lists ...
the equivalent of mussolini ventotene kluk kluks v2.0 ...
@mattblaze Dear BimBondi,
You show us the redacted information we want, and maybe we'll show you ours...
@mattblaze These aren't very smart people, maybe they just didn't know?
Minnesota has open primaries - any voter can select which party primary they want to vote in at the time of the primary. There's no party registration, so the primary selected (and not made public) is the only indicator of party affinity in the voter database there.
is this possibly why Bondi is extorting MN officials for the voting records? ...because the voting records would reveal non-public data on which party people voted for?
(and such data is more easily obtained in other states with closed primaries and that info is public record?)
@mattblaze Washington State has the same @icymi_law
@mattblaze would it be possible that's just Bondi's grasping at straws attempt to save face and justify surging ICE into Minnesota? That demand didn't come out until after things were going very badly for ICE.
@mattblaze Mike Waltz should pull a DOGE and delete that information from the voter database, then say "oops".
@mattblaze
It should be this way nationwide.
My guess is they just want the ability to point at stuff that isn’t fraud and call it fraud over and over again until it sticks as a way of putting ICE or the National Guard at select polling locations during the next election.
@bflipp @mattblaze Yep. This is the most plausible scenario.
They want to find anything that is UNUSUAL (though not necessarily illegal or improper) and hand it over to their media machine, to begin building a case for the lie that "Minnesota improperly managed their elections in 2024, so we'll need to put ICE everywhere / manage their elections for them" or similar.
@distractal @bflipp There is no federal authority to manage elections. HAVA and the NVRA each created some requirements for how states manage voter registration, but do not give any authority to the federal government to supervise elections (as the Voting Rights Act did).
This has literally zero to do with “federal authority to manage elections” when you can just have your goon squad rolling around kidnapping people to scare people away from going to vote in the same way they are currently scared to leave their house right now.
Remember the evidence for current ICE enforcement was a youtube video made by a mentally challenged man going to daycares on the weekend when no kids were there to prove “fraud.”
Why would you even begin to think what is and isn’t managed between the states and federal government makes any difference now?
@bflipp @distractal Because it DOES make a big difference. Elections are run by states, not the federal government. The executive branch has virtually no role in election operations. While it’s certainly true that the Trump administration has overstepped its authority in many ways, attempting to usurp state control over elections goes well beyond anything they’ve attempted or even discussed. It would represent a significant attack on the structure of federalism.
@mattblaze Come on. Not really curious at all given the agenda includes keeping Trump and maga in power for life 😖
@3x10to8mps I apologize if my post did not meet your needs. I am not nearly as smart, savvy, or attractive as you are.
@mattblaze Wow what a jerk you are
If you don't want comments don't post on social media
What I said did not deserve your hostility
@3x10to8mps bye bye little troll
