The Republican National Committee filed an election-integrity lawsuit against New Jersey for failing to provide public records on its voter roll maintenance.

"New Jerseyans deserve to know whether their voter rolls are accurate," RNC Chair Joe Gruters wrote in a statement. "Clean and transparent voter lists are essential for trust in our elections. The RNC is suing to obtain these records and ensure the state follows the law."

The RNC says it has sent 18 separate records requests on New Jersey's voter rolls, but alleges Secretary of State Tahesha Way has violated federal law by failing to provide them.

The National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (NVRA) requires states to maintain accurate voter registration lists and to remove ineligible individuals from their voter rolls.

The NVRA requires states to hold records for two years, which is why the RNC is seeking public records from March 2023 to the present.

The case could expand to other blue-controlled states worried that illegal voters might be culled behind the Republican-led effort. The RNC sent records requests in March to election officials in 48 states and Washington, D.C., seeking information on how states maintain their voter rolls.

"The RNC is once again taking action to make our elections more secure," then-RNC Chair Michael Whatley wrote in a statement. "Voters have a right to know that their states are properly maintaining voter rolls and quickly acting to clean voter registration lists by removing ineligible voters.

"If states unlawfully block our requests, or if we discover that states have failed to accurately maintain their voter rolls, the RNC stands ready to act."

This year, the RNC has already filed two separate Open Public Records Act (OPRA) lawsuits in New Jersey and one public-records lawsuit in Hawaii for public officials' refusal to turn over requested records.

"We have to continue to do everything we can to protect the vote, and make it so it's as easy as possible to vote and as hard as possible to cheat," Gruters told Newsmax's "Wake Up America" last week.

• RNC Chair Gruters to Newsmax: GOP Focused on Election Integrity
• RNC Backs New Jersey GOP in Ballot Security Lawsuit