Trump DOJ loses in Maine, Wisconsin as courts rebuff demand for voter rolls
Democracy Docket • • nation
Key Points:
- Federal judges dismissed DOJ lawsuits demanding unredacted voter registration records from Maine and Wisconsin, ruling the federal government has no right to such records under the Civil Rights Act (CRA).
- These rulings mark the DOJ's eighth loss out of 31 lawsuits seeking access to state voter rolls amid claims of illegal voting by noncitizens, which courts have found largely unsubstantiated.
- Judges held that while the DOJ can enforce voter roll maintenance under the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) and Help America Vote Act (HAVA), these laws do not authorize the federal government to conduct invasive audits of state voter lists.
- The decisions emphasized federalism concerns, noting that the DOJ's demands exceed the intended scope of the CRA, which was designed to combat racial discrimination in voting, not to enable broad federal oversight of state voter registration databases.
- Notably, four of the eight judges ruling against the DOJ were Trump appointees, highlighting bipartisan judicial skepticism of the DOJ's approach.