Coming off the high of winning 31 games, Jeopardy! champion Jamie Ding now has a serious issue to worry about — voter registration in New Jersey. President Donald Trump is trying to turn over full voter registration in the state, and Ding, from Lawrenceville, New Jersey, is fighting him on it.
Ding is involved in a federal court battle in New Jersey to protect voter privacy, according to the New Jersey Globe. New Jersey state officials want to block the U.S. Department of Justice from obtaining the state’s complete voter registration list. It is a database that includes personal information of over six million New Jersey residents, including voters’ names, addresses, birthdates, partial Social Security and driver’s license numbers.
The Trump administration asked a federal judge to force Lieutenant Governor Dave Caldwell, the Secretary of State, to turn over the New Jersey statewide voter file to them. The administration argues that the information is crucial to review to see if the state complied with federal election laws.
New Jersey lawyers have rejected the request, stating that it violates the privacy laws of the state and the longstanding protections of voter data. They argued that turning over the data could cause mistrust and, therefore, prevent them from voting at all. Potential intervenors believe that the data is being used for immigration enforcement, denaturalization, or political retaliation, and are filing a motion to dismiss the case.
Ding filed his motion to intervene on March 6, one week before he appeared on Jeopardy!. However, he had already taped more than 20 episodes when the bureaucrat decided to join the lawsuit.
Since 2021, Ding has worked at the New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency. He started out as a policy and programs analyst and is currently a multifamily and tax credit program administrator. He is also going to school part-time for law at Seton Hall University. Working in both of these fields gives Ding first-hand knowledge of dealing with personal data.
According to NJ.com, Ding is a registered Democrat. He has voted in New Jersey since 2017, after becoming a U.S. Citizen in 2007, and has voted consistently in primary and general elections. He is politically active, attends political events, and donates to causes he cares about.
“I am a Democrat and have been outspoken in criticizing this administration when I disagree with its stances,” he said in his court certification. “I have grave misgivings about the actions of the current administration and, consequently, what they may do with sensitive information contained within voter registration files.”
He fears that his sensitive data may be mishandled and misused, as he has reports of the Trump administration doing just that. “Individuals in or aligned with the federal government have demonstrated a willingness to retaliate against people based on their political views,” Ding said.
“I believe this administration views immigrants—including naturalized citizens like me—with disdain and distrust. I am concerned that the Department of Justice may try to use this information to target naturalized citizens like me and to attempt to remove us from the voter rolls. I think there is a real danger that the federal government will weaponize this information against individuals.”
Ding’s parents were born in China. He was born in Australia, but spent most of his childhood in Michigan, and moved to New Jersey for school and work.
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