DOJ Sues Six States for Withholding Voter Registration Lists (2)

The US Department of Justice on Thursday sued California, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, New Hampshire, and Pennsylvania for refusing to hand over full, unredacted copies of their statewide voter registration lists.

The DOJ said it sought the records under its duty to enforce the National Voter Registration Act and the Help America Vote Act and invoked its power to inspect the sensitive voter files under the Civil Rights Act.

The lawsuits follow related moves by the DOJ against Orange County, North Carolina, Maine, and Oregon for alleged non-compliance with federal voting laws or failures to hand over voter lists, which can contain addresses, drivers license numbers, and social security numbers.

“States are required to safeguard American elections by complying with our federal elections laws,” Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon said in a press release Thursday. “Clean voter rolls protect American citizens from voting fraud and abuse, and restore their confidence that their states’ elections are conducted properly, with integrity, and in compliance with the law.”

In its refusal to provide the voter registration file, officials in California told the DOJ in August that the government could make an appointment and inspect a copy of the redacted voting records during regular business hours, adding that such public inspection satisfies the state’s legal obligation under the NVRA.

“Please do not hesitate to contact my office regarding when you plan to visit Sacramento to review the voter registration information,” the state responded, according to the complaint.

New Hampshire Secretary of State David M. Scanlan advised the DOJ that state law bars him from providing the state voter registration list, although nothing would block the federal government from seeking the data from each of the state’s 234 municipalities, according to the complaint.

Lawyers for Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon allegedly pressed the DOJ for assurances that the data would be protected and used properly before it shared the requested voter list and later insisted that state law prohibits the office from releasing voters’ birth dates or any portion of their social security numbers.

“Our office has always been and will continue to be transparent with the public about the processes in place to protect our elections,” Simon said in a statement. “We will also continue to safeguard the private information of millions of eligible Minnesota voters. Minnesotans are proud of their elections that’s why we regularly lead the nation in voter turnout.”

In Michigan, Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson allegedly told the government the office would only provide the public version of the voter list, despite the DOJ insisting it needed full dates of birth, drivers license numbers, and the last four digits of voters’ social security numbers.

Pennsylvania Secretary of the Commonwealth Al Schmidt allegedly also offered the public version of the voter records for the government to review, although those records don’t include “required unique identifiers requested by the Attorney General.”

Calling DOJ’s demands “unprecedented and unlawful,” Schmidt said his office would “aggressively defend the privacy of Pennsylvania voters against this baseless lawsuit.”

Benson of Michigan said in a statement the government’s request for private, personal information of more than 8 million state residents “is not normal.”

“Only state and local election officials—not the president, the DOJ, or any other federal agency—have the right to people’s private voter information,” Benson said. “The people of Michigan have entrusted this department with their personal data, and I will stand up to this illegal and unconstitutional power grab.”

California’s Weber said the DOJ’s requests were “a fishing expedition and pretext for partisan policy objectives.”

The DOJ asked the courts to rule that the states’ refusal to provide unredacted records violates the federal voting laws, to invalidate any state law that purports to keep state officials from providing the lists, and order the states to hand over the lists.

A spokeswoman for the New Hampshire secretary of state declined to comment on the suit. Representatives for New York weren’t immediately available Thursday for comment.

The cases are United States v Weber, C.D. Cal., 2:25-cv-09149, complaint filed 9/25/25, United States v. Schmidt, W.D. Pa., 2:25-cv-01481, complaint filed 9/25/25, United States v. Benson, W.D. Mich., 1:25-cv-01148, complaint filed 9/25/25, United States v. Simon, D. Minn., 0:25-cv-03761, complaint filed 9/25/25, United States v. Scanlan, D.N.H., 1:25-cv-00371, complaint filed 9/25/25.