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The Trump administration’s strong effort to acquire confidential voter registration datadatahas faced unforeseen opposition from Republican-controlled states, highlighting divisions among Republicans regarding federalism and election safety.

Although the Justice Department has filed lawsuits against 25 mostly Democratic states seeking voter roll details, at least six states led by Republicans have quietly declined to provide sensitive information such as Social Security numbers, driver’s license identifiers, and current addresses.reported CNN.

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“They won’t be obtaining our personal details,” stated Kris Warner, the Republican Secretary of State from West Virginia.

GOP election officials reference state privacy regulations and constitutional issues regarding federal interference, with Mississippi Secretary of State Michael Watson, head of the National Association of Secretaries of State, declining the DOJ’s suggested deal that would have required states to eliminate voters considered ineligible within 45 days.

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“We strongly believed that managing voter registration should be handled at the state level,” Watson said to CNN.

Deputy Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon has labeled these worries as “unfounded,” stating that Social Security numbers are commonly exchanged, although election officials fear the actual purpose goes beyond managing voter lists.

A high-ranking Republican source, who spoke under the condition of anonymity to prevent potential repercussions from the White House, indicated that the information might be utilized as a tool for immigration control or serve as “a club” to undermine the validity of midterm election outcomes in case Republicans face defeat.

The Department of Justice’s forceful methods—such as allowing states only seven days to reply and making persistent follow-up calls—have worried even supporters of Trump. Only Alaska and Texas have signed the proposed memorandum, while approximately a dozen states shared data without agreeing to the deal.

Complicating things further, the SAVE system that the DOJ intends to use for cross-referencing is full of false positives, leading to incorrect matches.flaggingnaturalized citizens being excluded from voting because of obsolete federal information.

In August, the Kentucky State Board of Elections requested the DOJ to clarify the reason for needing the data, and a Republican election official from another state also found the request unclear.

“They aren’t required to use a driver’s license, Social Security number, and birth date to confirm that we’re making a sensible attempt at keeping our voter list up to date,” said the Republican election official.

That official, who asked to remain unnamed to prevent retaliation from the White House, indicated the information might be utilized for immigration enforcement or as a “weapon” to underminedoubton possible Republican losses in the midterm elections.

“If states don’t provide this information and the Republicans lose, they can then return and claim, ‘See, it’s because they didn’t give us this information, so they cheated, and all these illegal voters who shouldn’t have voted did so,’” the official stated.