A federal appeals court on Wednesday rejected demands by the Justice Department that Michigan turn over non-public information in their voter registration files, in the biggest setback yet to the Trump administration’s attempt to obtain and audit unredacted voter rolls from states across the country.
The 6th US Circuit Court of Appeals said Michigan was not obligated to produce the confidential voter data – which could include social security numbers and driver’s license ID numbers – to the department.
Nine judges at the district court level have ruled against the administration’s efforts. This is the first time an appeals court has weighed in, potentially setting up the stage for a Supreme Court showdown on the issue.
“Back then, the government used this power to ensure that everyone who had the right to vote could freely exercise that right,” Mathis wrote. “But today, the government invokes Title III for an inverse purpose—to ensure that some people have not voted.”
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel applauded the ruling, writing in a statement Wednesday, “The federal government continues to show a blatant disregard for voter privacy, but the rule of law has once again prevailed.”
The Justice Department has sued 30 states that have refused to produce their unredacted voter rolls.
The sweeping DOJ campaign for nearly every state’s unredacted voter roll is one of several examples of how the administration – fueled by President Donald Trump’s longstanding beliefs that the 2020 election was rigged against him – has sought to assert more federal control in elections.