Minnesota DOJ Voter Data Access Challenge 

An anti-voting lawsuit seeking to compel Minnesota to provide the DOJ with access to its statewide voter registration data. 

Background

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a lawsuit against Minnesota and Secretary of State Steve Simon (D) for refusing to provide voter list maintenance information and an unredacted copy of its statewide voter registration list. On June 25, the DOJ sent a letter to Simon requesting, among other things, a current copy of the statewide voter registration list and documentation of the state’s compliance with voter list maintenance procedures. Simon responded on July 25, providing information on the state’s list maintenance procedures but declining to provide the statewide voter registration list. The DOJ argues that this falls short of federal requirements and violates the Help America Vote Act, and the Civil Rights Act of 1960. The DOJ is asking the court to compel Minnesota to produce the requested records, including the state’s full voter list with each voter’s date of birth, address and other sensitive information. 

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 21 states total, 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 and Washington — all of which have refused to hand over unredacted voter files containing highly sensitive personal information.

Latest Updates

• March 3, 2026: A hearing is scheduled on a motion to dismiss.
• Jan. 6, 2026: The court granted the Minnesota Alliance for Retired Americans Educational Fund, the League of Women Voters Minnesota and Common Cause’s motions to intervene as defendants.
• Sept. 30, 2025: The Minnesota Alliance for Retired Americans Educational Fund and a Minnesota voter filed a motion to intervene as defendants.
• Sept. 25, 2025: The DOJ filed its complaint.