DOJ appeals Maine and Wisconsin voter roll losses, taking every defeat to appellate courts

The Justice Department appealed federal court losses in Maine and Wisconsin Friday, ensuring that every major defeat in its nationwide campaign to obtain state voter registration data is now in or headed to a federal appeals court.

The filings, submitted to the First Circuit in Maine and the Seventh Circuit in Wisconsin, come after judges in both states dismissed DOJ lawsuits seeking voter registration records last month on the same day.

The appeals mark a significant escalation in the Trump administration’s crusade for unredacted statewide voter rolls.

Since January, federal judges in California, Oregon, Michigan, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Arizona, Wisconsin and Maine have all rejected DOJ lawsuits seeking voter registration data.

The department has yet to secure a court victory. With Friday’s filings, DOJ has now appealed every loss.

The administration’s legal theory has faced setbacks across the country. Some courts concluded DOJ failed to provide the factual basis required before demanding voter data. Others went further and rejected the department’s underlying claim that federal law entitles it to statewide voter registration databases.

For example, in Arizona, a federal judge ruled that the state’s voter registration list is “not a document subject to request by the Attorney General” under the statute DOJ has relied upon and dismissed the case with prejudice.

The growing number of appeals means the fight over voter data is increasingly shifting from district courts to appellate courts.

The First Circuit is now poised to hear appeals involving Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Maine. The Sixth Circuit recently heard oral arguments in Michigan, while the Ninth Circuit has already heard arguments in cases involving California and Oregon. Arizona’s appeal is also pending in the Ninth Circuit. Wisconsin now heads to the Seventh Circuit.

The cases stem from the administration’s effort to obtain voter registration data from states across the country, arguing the records are necessary to investigate potential violations of federal election laws. State election officials and voting rights groups have countered that the requests exceed DOJ’s authority and threaten voter privacy.