GRAND RAPIDS, Michigan — A federal judge on Tuesday dismissed a Trump administration lawsuit seeking access to detailed Michigan voter registration records, ruling that federal law does not require states to turn over sensitive voter data to the federal government.
U.S. District Judge Hala Jarbou, a Trump appointee serving in the Western District of Michigan, found that none of the statutes cited by the Department of Justice authorize the sweeping disclosure it sought from Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson. In her opinion, Jarbou concluded that the Help America Vote Act, the National Voter Registration Act, and the Civil Rights Act of 1960 “do not allow the United States to obtain the records at issue in this case.”
The lawsuit stemmed from a July 2025 DOJ request demanding full voter profiles for every registered Michigan voter, including names, dates of birth, home addresses, and either driver’s license numbers or the last four digits of Social Security numbers. State officials refused, offering instead the publicly available voter file, citing privacy and security concerns.
Judge Jarbou rejected the DOJ’s legal theory across all three statutes. She wrote that the government could not invoke the Help America Vote Act without alleging an actual violation, nor could it use discovery to search for a claim that did not yet exist. She further ruled that the requested records do not fall under the disclosure provisions of the Civil Rights Act.
Regarding the National Voter Registration Act, Jarbou warned that compelling disclosure of sensitive personal data could deter voter registration and impose an unconstitutional burden on voting rights protected by the First Amendment.
Neither the DOJ nor the Michigan Department of State immediately commented on the ruling.
Sources
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