A federal judge in Georgia dismissed a U.S. Justice Department lawsuit seeking voter information from the state Friday, ruling the government had sued in the wrong judicial district. U.S. District Judge Ashley Royal found the Justice Department should have sued Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger in Atlanta rather than Macon, where the secretary of state maintains an office. The dismissal was issued without prejudice, meaning the Justice Department can refile the lawsuit. The dispute marks the latest setback for the Trump administration’s effort to collect detailed voter data from states.

The federal government is seeking voter information including dates of birth, driver’s license numbers, and Social Security numbers from 24 states and the District of Columbia. Raffensperger has emerged as the rare Republican to refuse the demand, asserting that Georgia law prohibits the release of voters’ confidential personal information unless certain qualifications are met.

Georgia’s Refusal and the Constitution

Raffensperger said he shared the public voter roll and information about how Georgia removes ineligible or outdated registrations in December. In a statement Friday, he said: “I will always follow the law and follow the Constitution. I won’t violate the oath I took to stand up for the people of this state, regardless of who or what compels me to do otherwise.”

The refusal has become an issue in Raffensperger’s 2026 run for governor. In January 2021, Raffensperger famously refused a demand from President Donald Trump in a phone call to “find” enough votes to overturn Joe Biden’s win in Georgia’s 2020 presidential election. Many Trump-supporting Republicans have held a grudge against him since.

Republican Pressure Mounts in State Senate

The voter data dispute intensified Thursday when a state Senate committee voted to advance a resolution calling on Raffensperger to hand over voter data. Multiple Republican state senators at the hearing slammed him for failing to comply, saying he legally could do so. The committee voted along party lines to advance the resolution, characterizing it as the “latest example of a pattern of behavior by the secretary and his office to refuse oversight of his administration of Georgia’s elections.”

State Sen. Randy Robertson, a Republican from Cataula who filed the resolution, said the dismissal is “frustrating” because even if the Justice Department refiles the lawsuit, the problem will take longer to resolve. “As public officials we all should participate in any investigation done by a law enforcement agency,” Robertson told the Associated Press Friday.

Robertson is one of many Republican lawmakers backing Lt. Gov. Burt Jones over Raffensperger for the GOP governor nomination. Jones already has Trump’s endorsement for governor and was one of 16 state Republicans who signed a certificate declaring that Trump won Georgia and identifying themselves as the state’s “duly elected and qualified” electors.

The Justice Department’s broader effort to collect voter data has faced legal obstacles in other states. A federal judge in California rejected the lawsuit against that state on privacy grounds, while a judge in Oregon suggested he may dismiss the case there.

The Trump administration characterizes the lawsuits as an effort to ensure election security. The Justice Department says the states are violating federal law by refusing to provide voter lists and information. The department declined to comment Friday on the Georgia dismissal.