Alexandria, VA (April 20, 2026) – The Public Interest Legal Foundation commends New York Congresswoman Claudia Tenney for her continued pressing of the New York State Board of Elections for information about missing data in that state’s voter roll. Tenney’s actions follow PILF’s exposé showing millions of registered voters without personal identification data on record.
A 2022 PILF report found 3.1 million, approximately 23%, New York voter registrations were missing any form of personal identifying information (PII) like a Social Security or driver’s license number. The report noted, “New York is flashing a warning sign…the lack of PII is essential to conducting effective voter roll maintenance. This can spell danger for mail-in ballot administration, voter history information and even larger systemic challenges.”
“Congresswoman Tenney’s tenacity pursuing these flawed records is what makes her a great champion of election integrity,” said PILF President J. Christian Adams. “The Department of Justice should jump in and help with this effort to clean up the voter rolls before the 2026 midterms.”
In 2022, Congresswomen Tenney and Elise Stefanik wrote the NYSBOE for its noncompliance with the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) – they cited PILF findings and explained how Florida addressed a similar problem.
The letter noted, “The state of Florida recently rectified an issue of missing PII on voter registrations by creating a process through which the state Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) could share PII in order to fill out missing required information. This protocol is just one model the state of New York could choose to follow.”
Rep. Tenney also called on the Biden Justice Department to enforce elements of HAVA on New York. She explained, “Without PII, matching one John or Jane Doe to another is an incredibly difficult task that could lead to ineligible voters remaining on the rolls, voters registering in multiple states, or a voter receiving more than one opportunity to vote in a given election. With the increase of mail-in voting in New York, this could become particularly problematic, causing even greater chaos and dysfunction in the election process than already exists.”
The Public Interest Legal Foundation (PILF) is the nation’s only public interest law firm dedicated wholly to election integrity. The Foundation exists to assist states and others to aid the cause of election integrity and fight against lawlessness in American elections. Drawing on numerous experts in the field, PILF seeks to protect the right to vote and preserve the Constitutional framework of American elections.
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