AMNA NAWAZ: In recent days, the Justice# Department has sued eight states to compel## them to share their voter registration# lists with the federal government.

Those## lists include voters' personal data, like# dates of birth and Social Security numbers.## State officials oppose the move because of# concerns about how the information will be used.

That comes as President Trump continues to target# election systems, including mail-in ballots.

Liz Landers is back now with a closer look.

LIZ LANDERS: Trump's targeting of mail-in# voting is just one action he's been critical of.

To discuss more, I'm joined by David# Becker, the executive director of the## nonpartisan Nonprofit Center for# Election Innovation and Research.

David, thank you so much for joining us.

The Department of Justice announced that they are# suing after the state refused to turn over voter## registration lists.

The Department of Justice# sent us a statement and said in part that Congress## gave the Justice Department authority under# statutes, and they list out a few of these,## to ensure that states have proper voter# registration procedures and programs## to maintain clean voter rolls containing# only eligible voters in federal elections.

Do the states have the ability to# refuse to send this information over?

DAVID BECKER, Executive Director, Center for# Election Innovation and Research: So, first of## all, the National Voter Regi.. which are two of the statutes that they# cite, do in fact require and authorize the## states to engage in list maintenance, voter list# maintenance, to keep their voter lists up to date.

But those responsibilities reside with the states# and the states alone.

What the Justice Department## can do -- and I know this because I worked# for seven years as a lawyer in the Justice## Department enforcing these statutes -- is, they# can say to states, you have to have a program## that does these things, that removes voters who# have died, removes voters who have moved away.

But it doesn't enable the Justice Department# to seize that authority from the states and## do it for the states when they don't want# to.

Another big factor here is that a lot## of this data is highly sensitive,# data like driver's license numbers,## Social Security numbers and dates of birth,# which are the holy trinity of identity theft.

And states have very significant regulations# to protect that data from disclosure.

Remember,## the federal government, it was revealed, just# uploaded a huge amount of data from the Social## Security database to a vulnerable public cloud# server.

So the states have a very good reason to## want to protect their data and get more answers# from the DOJ that the DOJ has not provided.

It has not been clear what they're# going to do with this data,## how they're going to store this data,# who's going to have access to this data.

LIZ LANDERS: In a separate action that# the Department of Justice is taking,## they sent a request back in August to# access voting machines, specifically## Dominion Voting Systems that were used in the# 2020 election in two counties in Missouri.

Neither of these county election officials# have complied to turn over these voting## machines.

Does the Department# of Justice have input on voting## machines and maintaining the actual# physical infrastructure for voting?

DAVID BECKER: With rare exception, the DOJ has# absolutely no authority over voting machines.## They might have some authority to ensure# that the voting process is accessible to,## for instance, people with disabilities or people## who don't speak English very well.# That's in the Voting Rights Act.

But, in general, they have no authority to# seize or inspect voting machines in any way.## And the way that this was done in states# like Missouri -- there's also allegations## this was done in Colorado -- is, it appears# they went through some kind of third party## to try to twist arms with local election# officials and get access to those devices.

It's even more troubling because there# is federal law that requires these local## election officials to maintain custody.# Chain of custody is very important with## voting machines.

And if they -- if# that chain of custody is destroyed,## it could render those machines# unusable in the next election.

So there's no clear indication,# again, what the DOJ is doing,## whether it has any competence# whatsoever to look at voting machines,## and absolutely no federal statute# that authorizes them to do that.

LIZ LANDERS: I want to play for# you a sound bite from President## Trump last month talking about# mail-in ballots.

Let's listen.

DONALD TRUMP, President of the United States:# Mail-in ballots are corrupt.

Mail-in ballots,## you can never have a real democracy with# mail-in ballots.

And we, as a Republican Party,## are going to do everything possible# that we get rid of mail-in ballots.

LIZ LANDERS: The president has repeatedly attacked## mail-in ballots and that form of# voting.

Are mail-in ballots secure?

DAVID BECKER: Well, we have had mail-in ballots,## mail-in voting, since at least the# Civil War, so for over 150 years.

And, in fact, the states that started making it# more popular, extending it to more people often## tended to be redder states, states like Arizona,# Utah, who were thinking about voters who might be## older, who might be in rural areas, who needed# to find ways to vote.

It's absolutely secure.## Every state has multiple protections in place# on the voter registration side, once the ballots## come back in, to check to see the signatures# are matching and the right person is voting.

And, also, if anyone ever tried to# vote a ballot there wasn't theirs,## it's likely they're going to -- that# person's going to show up.

And so## there will be protections in place# to make sure mail voting is secure.

LIZ LANDERS: To the point# that you were just making,## there are 36 states that allow# no-excuse absentee voting,## including several that are almost entirely# vote-by-mail.

President Trump won 20 of those.

Does the president have the power# to get rid of this kind of voting?

DAVID BECKER: No, the founders were very wise# when they constructed the Constitution.

Remember,## they had just defeated a tyrant in England and# achieved their freedom here in the United States.

And one of the things they were really# worried about was that a future despot,## a future authoritarian would try# to seize power through some kind## of populism or something like that.

And so# they decentralized the running of elections## through something called the Elections Clause# of the Constitution, which says that the time,## place and manner of elections is# regulated by the state legislatures.

Congress can also regulate it, of course, Congress# being made up by the states.

But the White House,## the president, plays absolutely no role on# elections.

And if the president wants to change## anything with regard to federal elections, he,# of course, has to go through Congress to do that.

LIZ LANDERS: David Becker, thank you so much.

DAVID BECKER: Thank you, Liz.