They could claim the wipe was to protect voter privacy though, in which case one would expect them to make the data unrecoverable.

"They could claim the wipe was to protect voter privacy though, in which case one would expect them to make the data unrecoverable."

Not after a lawsuit is filed. That's obstruction of justice regardless of what they claim. No?

Yes and no. If the "standard procedure" when they normally wipe the data as part of routine is to overwrite (Which I'd probably hope so) then the fact that they did so a) Makes it impossible to recover, and b) Doesn't make the action any more incriminating.

This is entirely separate from questions of obstruction of justice.