LINCOLN — A group of state lawmakers sent a letter Wednesday asking Nebraska Secretary of State Bob Evnen to explain his “negotiations” with the federal government over the release of sensitive voter information.

Five state senators, all Democrats, referred in their letter to correspondence they had with Evnen in October when they reminded him of an “obligation to protect Nebraska voter privacy from unwarranted federal overreach.”

They said Evnen had indicated in a response at the time that he would not comply with the federal government’s request to turn over detailed voter information due to pending litigation.

Voting advocacy group Common Cause Nebraska has sued to block the sharing of that voter data with the U.S. Department of Justice.

But Wednesday’s letter was penned in light of a more recent news story published in the Nebraska Examiner on Dec. 18, which led lawmakers to believe Evnen, a Republican, had been communicating with the DOJ regarding the release of the data.

State Sen. Margo Juarez of Omaha was joined in the request by Sens. Ashlei Spivey of Omaha, Danielle Conrad and Jane Raybould of Lincoln and Victor Rountree of Bellevue.

The group sought to learn more about the “timing and results of negotiations” between Evnen’s office and the federal government.

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