DOJ voter roll grab is now 0-11 as judge dismisses New Hampshire lawsuit

A Republican-appointed federal judge in New Hampshire dismissed the U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ) lawsuit against the state, which refused the department’s demand to hand over an unredacted copy of its statewide voter registration list. 

The ruling Monday marks the 11th straight loss for the DOJ, which sued 30 states and Washington, D.C., in an unprecedented effort to obtain unredacted statewide voter registration lists that include sensitive personal data of every registered voter. No court has ruled in favor of the department.

Last summer, DOJ contacted every state, demanding access to each state’s full, unredacted voter rolls under the guise of “voter list maintenance.” After most states refused to comply, citing privacy concerns and claiming the request was unlawful, the DOJ launched a legal blitz. The department argued that, under Title III of the 1960 Civil Rights Act (CRA) and the Help America Vote Act (HAVA), states are required to hand over full voter registration records upon request to ensure clean voter rolls. 

In his dismissal of DOJ’s New Hampshire lawsuit, U.S. District Judge Joseph Laplante, an appointee of President George W. Bush, shut down DOJ’s argument that New Hampshire is required to hand over its voter rolls to the Justice Department under federal voting laws. 

“After reviewing the parties’ submissions and hearing oral argument, because the Attorney General’s demand did not comply with Title III of the Civil Rights Act of 1960 (CRA), and because he failed to allege a violation under the Help America Vote Act (HAVA), the court grants New Hampshire’s motion to dismiss and denies as moot the United States’ motion to compel,” Laplante wrote. 

Laplante also said that state voter registration lists (SVRL) do not count as a record that DOJ can demand under the CRA. 

“Applying that interpretation here, the court concludes that New Hampshire’s SVRL falls outside the scope of documents or records covered by [the CRA],” he wrote. 

The losses are piling up fast and hard in DOJ’s voter roll grab. On Saturday, a federal judge dismissed the department’s Pennsylvania lawsuit for similar reasons. And a different federal judge last week tossed out DOJ’s Maryland lawsuit — again declaring that DOJ’s CRA argument is bogus. 

The DOJ suffered its first appeals court loss last week, too, after a three-judge panel of the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a lower court ruling dismissing the department’s lawsuit against Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson (D). The panel also shut down DOJ’s argument that the CRA gives it the authority to demand state voter rolls.