A federal judge Tuesday shut down the Justice Department’s efforts to obtain personal voter information from elections officials in Michigan, the third time a court has tossed a lawsuit by the Trump administration in its efforts to obtain voter registration lists from the states.
U.S. District Judge Hala Jarbou, the chief judge for U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan, granted a request from Michigan officials, including Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, to dismiss the Justice Department lawsuit.
In a 23-page order, Jarbou said federal voting laws cited by the Justice Department do not require the state to turn over the voter information. The Justice Department cited the Help America Vote Act, the National Voter Registration Act and the Civil Rights Act in its lawsuit.
Jarbou, a Trump appointee, wrote: “As explained below, the Court concludes that (1) HAVA does not require the disclosure of any records, (2) the NVRA does not require the disclosure of voter registration lists because they are not records concerning the implementation of list maintenance procedures, and (3) the CRA does not require the disclosure of voter registration lists because they are not documents that come into the possession of election officials.”
The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the ruling.
Federal judges in Oregon and California recently dismissed Justice Department lawsuits seeking to force those states to hand over their voter rolls.
In a letter to Michigan officials in July, the Justice Department requested the full names, birth dates, addresses and driver’s license numbers for all of the state’s voters, as well as partial Social Security numbers. Michigan officials said they would turn over only data that is public, not detailed sensitive personal information.
The Justice Department then sued Michigan, trying to get the full voter rolls.
Michigan is one of 23 states, plus the District of Columbia, that the Justice Department has sued trying to access voter rolls, arguing that it needs the records to make sure states are maintaining accurate voter rolls and that fraud is not taking place in federal elections.
President Donald Trump has called for Republicans in Congress to “nationalize the elections,” dramatically escalating his stance on election administration and drawing swift pushback from Democrats.
Article 1 of the Constitution states that “the times, places, and manner of holding elections for senators and representatives, shall be prescribed in each state by the legislature thereof,” though Congress can pass federal regulations, too. That means states have control over voter registration, election supervision, prevention of fraud, counting of ballots and more, according to the Supreme Court’s interpretation.
The legal setbacks in California, Oregon and Michigan come as Republicans in Congress work to push through sweeping legislation — opposed by Democrats and backed by Trump — that would overhaul election laws nationwide by adding more requirements like proof of citizenship.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, condemned the legislation, known as the SAVE Act, reminding her Republican colleagues Tuesday that they roundly claimed to oppose new federal election laws as recently as the Biden administration.
“When Democrats attempted to advance sweeping election reform legislation in 2021, Republicans were unanimous in opposition because it would have federalized elections, something we have long opposed,” Murkowski said on X.
The bill, introduced by Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, has 48 GOP co-sponsors. Democrats have vowed to block it in the Senate, where legislation needs 60 votes to advance.