Maryland DOJ Voter Data Access Challenge

An anti-voting lawsuit seeking to compel Maryland to provide the DOJ with access to its complete statewide voter registration database.

Background

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a lawsuit against State Administrator of Elections Jared DeMarinis, for refusing to turn over Maryland’s full, unredacted statewide voter registration list and related records.

In summer 2025, the DOJ demanded the complete voter rolls — including voters’ full names, dates of birth, residential addresses, and either driver’s license numbers or the last four digits of Social Security numbers — as part of a nationwide investigation into alleged non-compliance with federal voter list-maintenance requirements under the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) and Help America Vote Act (HAVA).

The state declined to provide the sensitive personal information, citing state privacy statutes and constitutional authority over elections. The DOJ contends this refusal violates Title III of the Civil Rights Act of 1960 (52 U.S.C. §§ 20701–20705) and is asking the federal district court to order immediate production of the complete voter records.

Why It Matters

This marks the latest escalation in the DOJ’s efforts to obtain sensitive voter registration data from states across the country. In recent months, the DOJ has intensified its demands for voter information as part of a broader, politically charged push aimed at pressuring states to remove voters from the rolls and advancing the Trump administration’s unfounded claims of widespread illegal voting. The DOJ has now sued 30 states, plus Washington, D.C. — California, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Colorado, Hawaii, Nevada, Massachusetts, Georgia, Illinois, Wisconsin, Utah, Oklahoma, Kentucky, West Virginia, New Jersey, Connecticut, Arizona, Virginia, Idaho and Washington — all of which have refused to hand over unredacted voter files containing highly sensitive personal information.

Latest Updates

• Feb. 9, 2026: Maryland/DC Alliance for Retired Americans filed a proposed motion to dismiss the lawsuit.
• Feb. 2, 2026: The court granted the Maryland/DC Alliance for Retired Americans’ motion to intervene as defendants.
• Jan. 30, 2026: The Maryland State Administrator of Elections filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit due to failure to state a claim.
• Dec. 11, 2025: Maryland/DC Alliance for Retired Americans filed a motion to intervene as a defendant.
• Dec. 1, 2025: DOJ filed its complaint and a motion to compel production of records.