A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Department of Justice seeking access to Michigan’s voter rolls, rejecting DOJ’s effort to compel disclosure of sensitive voter information held by the state. In a Tuesday opinion, U.S. District Judge Hala Y. Jarbou, a Trump nominee, ruled that the specific laws DOJ cited in its complaint do not require Michigan to provide the records the government sought.
The case is the latest in a broader set of DOJ attempts to obtain detailed voter information from states. The Justice Department has sued at least 23 states and the District of Columbia as part of its effort to gain access to detailed voter data, according to the reporting. The lawsuits center on who controls voter records and what federal statutes—invoked by DOJ—allow the government to demand.
Jarbou wrote that the federal laws DOJ relied on, including the Civil Rights Act of 1960, do not mandate disclosure of the records at issue in the Michigan case. DOJ argued in court filings that the information was needed to ensure Michigan properly maintained voter registrations, and it cited three federal laws: the Civil Rights Act of 1960, the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 and the Help America Vote Act of 2022.
Michigan officials and Democratic leaders have opposed the request, saying it would violate state and federal privacy laws. They also raised concerns that federal officials were pursuing the data for purposes beyond election administration, including searching the rolls for potential noncitizens. The reporting described elections in the United States as being administered at the state and local level, where individual voter information is kept.
Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson responded to the ruling in a statement on Tuesday. “Today’s decision affirms that the law is on our side,” Benson said. DOJ spokesperson Natalie Baldassarre did not comment when reached by email, and did not say whether the department will appeal the decision.
The dispute stems from DOJ’s earlier request for voter records from Michigan. In July, DOJ sought voter records from Michigan, including a copy of the state’s unredacted voter registration list. In September, Michigan officials said they would share only public voter registration information that does not include identifying details such as birth dates, addresses and partial Social Security numbers, prompting the federal lawsuit.
Jarbou’s dismissal in Michigan follows other federal court rejections of similar DOJ challenges, with judges dismissing analogous lawsuits in Oregon and California. A federal judge in Georgia recently dismissed a similar suit as well, ruling the federal government had sued in the wrong city.