SOCIAL SECURITY
February 2, 2018
Refer to:
S9H: SSA-2018-000222
Mr. Michael Pelle
Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law
120 Broadway, Suite 1750
New York, NY 10271
michael.pelle@nyu.edu
Dear Mr. Pelle:
This is in response to your Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request dated October 18, 2017
for records relating to the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity (PACEI).
You specifically requested all communications and documents regarding access by the PACEI or
any of its officers, agents, employees, or assignees to any of the following:






The Death Master File;
The Social Security Administration (SSA) E-Verify System database;
The Death Alert Control and Update System;
Any other SSA data resource, whether public, restricted public, or non-public, for the
purpose of matching, verifying, or investigating information on voter registration lists,
including all lists to which the Commission was granted access.
All other communications and documents concerning the PACEI (including a list of
email addresses documented on your incoming FOIA request).

In addition, you requested “all communications and documents describing the processing of this
request, including records sufficient to identify search terms used and locations and custodians
searched, and any tracking sheets used to track the processing of this request.”
We searched our agency records for any manual or electronically stored documents containing
the search terms you provided in your correspondence. We used our FOIA Online system to
track your request. We located the enclosed 3 page email correspondence responsive to your
request; however, we are withholding portions of the email correspondence under the FOIA
Exemptions 5 – deliberative process, including attorney-client and attorney work-product
privileges – and 6, personal privacy.
Pursuant to the FOIA Exemption 5 (5 U.S.C. § 552(b)(5)) we are withholding the following from
the email correspondence:
1. confidential communications between attorney and client;

 Page 2 – Mr. Michael Pelle
2. material prepared by an attorney in anticipation of litigation; and
3. advice, opinions, recommendations, predecisional discussion, and evaluative remarks that
are part of the government decision-making process.
We are withholding this information because release of such predecisional advisory
communications would harm the quality of agency decision-making and the policy of
encouraging frank, open discussion among agency personnel before making a decision
(5 U.S.C. § 552(b)(5)).
The general purposes of the deliberative process privilege are to prevent injury to the quality of
agency decisions and to protect government agencies’ decision-making processes. The
deliberative process privilege allows agencies to freely explore alternative avenues of action and
to engage in internal debates without fear of public scrutiny (Missouri ex rel. Shorr v. United
States Army Corps of Engineers, 147 F.3d 708, 710 (8th Cir. 1998)). Exemption 5 protects not
merely documents, but also the integrity of the deliberative process itself, where the exposure of
that process could result in harm.
Under the FOIA Exemption 6 (5 U.S.C. § 552(b)(6)), we are withholding certain SSA employee
names and contact information, as well as the email addresses of third parties. When we receive
a request from a member of the public to release personal information about another individual
from our records, we must balance the individual's privacy interest in withholding the
information against the public interest in disclosing the information. We must determine
whether disclosure would affect a personal privacy interest. Individuals clearly have a
substantial personal privacy interest in the personal details furnished to the government. On the
other hand, the only public interest we must consider is whether the information sought would
shed light on the way an agency performs its statutory duties. We may not consider the identity
of the requester or the purpose for which the information is requested. While the public has an
interest in knowing how SSA administers the Social Security Act, disclosing records containing
personal information about named individuals would not shed light on how the agency performs
its statutory duties. Therefore, disclosing this information would be a clearly unwarranted
invasion of personal privacy, and the FOIA does not require disclosure.
If you have questions, or would like further assistance with your request, you may contact our
FOIA Public Liaison by email at FOIA.Public.Liaison@ssa.gov; by phone at 410-965-1727, by
choosing Option 2; or facsimile at 410-966-0869.
You may also contact the Office of Government Information Services (OGIS) at the National
Archives and Records Administration for dispute resolution services. OGIS is an entity outside
of SSA that offers mediation services to resolve disputes between FOIA requesters and Federal
agencies. The contact information for OGIS is as follows: Office of Government Information
Services, National Archives and Records Administration, 8601 Adelphi Road – OGIS,
College Park, MD 20740-6001; email at ogis@nara.gov; telephone at 202-741-5770; toll-free at
1-877-684-6448; or facsimile at 202-741-5769.
If you disagree with this decision, you may file a written appeal with the Executive Director for
the Office of Privacy and Disclosure, Social Security Administration, 617 Altmeyer Building,
6401 Security Boulevard, Baltimore, Maryland 21235. Your appeal must be postmarked or
electronically transmitted to FOIA.Public.Liaison@ssa.gov within 90 days of the date of our

 Page 3 – Mr. Michael Pelle
response to your initial request. Please mark the envelope or subject line with “Freedom of
Information Appeal.”
Sincerely,

Monica Chyn
Acting Freedom of Information Officer
Enclosure

 (b) (6)

From:
Sent:
To:
Subject:

(b) (6)

Tuesday, December 05, 2017 1:31 PM
(b) (6)

Common Cause v. Presidential Advisory Commission on Electoral Integrity, et al

From: Agarwal, Asheesh (b) (6)
Sent: Thursday, August 17, 2017 1:50 PM
To: (b) (6)
Subject: RE: Common Cause v. Presidential Advisory Commission on Electoral Integrity, et al

Per our discussion:
https://www.ssa.gov/dataexchange/request_dmf.html
Asheesh Agarwal
General Counsel
Social Security Administration
6401 Security Boulevard
Baltimore, MD 21235
(b) (6)

This e-mail message, including attachments, if any, may contain confidential or privileged material, including attorneyclient privileged information, attorney work product information, and information subject to a Government privilege. If
you believe you received this e-mail in error, please notify the sender immediately, delete this e-mail message including
attachments, and destroy any copies of it. Please do not forward or disseminate this e-mail or its attachments without
discussing with the sender.
From: Agarwal, Asheesh
Sent: Tuesday, August 01, 2017 6:20 PM
To: (b) (6)
Subject: Fw: Common Cause v. Presidential Advisory Commission on Electoral Integrity, et al
(b) (5)

From: Chitwood, Mitchell (b) (6)
Sent: Tuesday, August 1, 2017 2:29 PM
To: Agarwal, Asheesh
Cc: Callahan, Dan; Harris, Christopher
Subject: FW: Common Cause v. Presidential Advisory Commission on Electoral Integrity, et al
1

 (b) (5)

This e-mail message, including attachments, if any, may contain confidential or privileged material, including
attorney-client privileged information, attorney work product information, and information subject to a
Government privilege. If you believe you received this e-mail in error, please notify the sender immediately,
delete this e-mail message including attachments, and destroy any copies of it. Please do not forward or
disseminate this e-mail or its attachments without discussing with the sender.
From: Wolfe, Kristina (CIV) (b) (6)
Sent: Tuesday, August 01, 2017 2:19 PM
To: Melchior, Melissa (b) (6)
Cc: Chitwood, Mitchell (b) (6)
; Maunz, Andrew (b) (6)
; Daniel, Terri HQ OGC
(b) (6)
(b)
(6)
; Borson, Joseph (CIV)
; Federighi, Carol (CIV)
(b) (6)
; Harris, Christopher
; Shapiro, Elizabeth (CIV) (b) (6)
(b) (6)
(b)
(6)
; Zimmerman, Mary Ann
Subject: RE: Common Cause v. Presidential Advisory Commission on Electoral Integrity, et al
(b) (5)

From: Melchior, Melissa (b) (6)
Sent: Tuesday, August 01, 2017 10:19 AM
To: Wolfe, Kristina (CIV) (b) (6)
; Maunz, Andrew (b) (6)
; Daniel, Terri HQ OGC
Cc: Chitwood, Mitchell (b) (6)
(b) (6)
(b)
(6)
; Borson, Joseph (CIV)
; Federighi, Carol (CIV)
(b) (6)
; Shapiro, Elizabeth (CIV) (b) (6)
; Harris, Christopher
(b) (6)
; Zimmerman, Mary Ann (b) (6)
Subject: RE: Common Cause v. Presidential Advisory Commission on Electoral Integrity, et al
(b) (5)

2

 (b) (5)

This e-mail message, including attachments, if any, may contain confidential or privileged material, including attorneyclient privileged information, attorney work product information, and information subject to a Government privilege. If
you believe you received this e-mail in error, please notify the sender immediately, delete this e-mail message including
attachments, and destroy any copies of it. Please do not forward or disseminate this e-mail or its attachments without
discussing with the sender.

3