Summary (tl;dr)

A federal appeals court has affirmed Michigan's right to withhold sensitive personal voter data from the U.S. Department of Justice, rejecting the Trump administration's demand for unredacted voter lists.

Essential Background

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), under the Trump administration, initiated a nationwide effort to obtain comprehensive, unredacted voter registration lists from over two dozen states and Washington D.C., including sensitive personal information like birth dates, driver's license numbers, and partial Social Security numbers. The DOJ contended this data was vital for ensuring compliance with federal voting laws, specifically the Help America Vote Act and the National Voter Registration Act. However, Michigan, through its Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, refused to provide the unredacted lists due to voter privacy concerns, arguing that federal law did not mandate such extensive disclosure and instead provided only the publicly available version of the voter list. This refusal led the DOJ to file lawsuits against Michigan and other non-compliant states to compel the release of the information. In February 2026, a U.S. District Court in Lansing, Michigan, dismissed the DOJ's lawsuit against Michigan, concluding that the federal laws cited did not require the disclosure of private voter information. The court also cautioned that interpreting the National Voter Registration Act to require such disclosure could unconstitutionally burden the right to vote.

The Full Story

On June 24, 2026, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit upheld the district court's decision, ruling 2-1 against the Trump administration's Department of Justice in its bid to obtain Michigan's unredacted voter registration list. This ruling marks the first instance a federal appeals court has addressed the Trump administration's broader campaign to access sensitive voter information from various states. The appeals court panel, in a 2-1 opinion, determined that a provision of the 1960 federal civil rights law does not grant the government the right to Michigan's voter registration list, which contains personal data such as names, birth dates, driver's license numbers, and partial Social Security numbers. Judge Andre Mathis, authoring the majority opinion, stated that the 1960 law empowered the government to "ensure that everyone who had the right to vote could freely exercise that right," but the current request sought to use it for an "inverse purpose — to ensure that some people have not voted". This decision affirms Michigan's position on safeguarding voter privacy and rejects the DOJ's interpretation of federal election laws in this context.

Why It Matters

This ruling is significant as it establishes a precedent, being the first federal appeals court decision on the Trump administration's nationwide effort to acquire unredacted voter rolls. It bolsters states' authority to protect the sensitive personal information of their registered voters from federal demands, potentially influencing ongoing or future lawsuits in other states where the DOJ sought similar data. Critics of the DOJ's push, including Michigan's attorneys, posited that the underlying objectives might include establishing a national voter file or identifying non-citizens who have registered or voted, raising concerns about voter suppression and data privacy. The outcome of this appeal highlights the ongoing legal and political contention surrounding election integrity, voter access, and the equilibrium between federal oversight and state autonomy over election data, particularly in the lead-up to the 2026 midterms.

Geographic Location

• Detroit, Wayne County, Michigan, United States (U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit ruling)
• Lansing, Ingham County, Michigan, United States (federal judge's decision upheld)
• Washington, D.C., District of Columbia, United States (U.S. Department of Justice initiating the lawsuit)