Federal court shuts down Trump DOJ bid for California voter rolls

A federal court dismissed the Trump Justice Department’s lawsuit seeking access to California’s full voter registration database Thursday, warning that the government’s bid for the voter records “threatens the right to vote which is the cornerstone of American democracy.”* 

The ruling, that the federal government has no legal authority to demand the sensitive personal information of nearly 23 million voters, blocks one of the most aggressive efforts yet by the administration to centralize voter data and marks a major victory for voter privacy and state sovereignty over elections.

It comes a day after a federal judge likewise tentatively ruled to reject DOJ’s lawsuit against Oregon over the same issue. The department has sued 23 states and the District of Columbia as part of a sweeping effort to gain access to tens of millions of voter records.

DOJ sought California’s unredacted, statewide voter rolls, including names, birthdates, addresses, driver’s license and Social Security numbers. California election officials refused to give the federal government the data, citing state and federal privacy laws and warning that the request would endanger voters. 

U.S. District Judge David O. Carter, appointed by former President Bill Clinton, agreed — and went further, casting the DOJ’s campaign as a fundamental threat to democracy.

“The Department of Justice seeks to use civil rights legislation which was enacted for an entirely different purpose to amass and retain an unprecedented amount of confidential voter data,” the judge wrote. “This effort goes far beyond what Congress intended when it passed the underlying legislation.”

The judge warned that concentrating sensitive voter information in federal hands could deter people from registering or casting a ballot, particularly those historically disenfranchised.

“The centralization of this information by the federal government would have a chilling effect on voter registration which would inevitably lead to decreasing voter turnout as voters fear that their information is being used for some inappropriate or unlawful purpose,” the judge wrote. “This risk threatens the right to vote which is the cornerstone of American democracy.”

California is one of 23 states and the District of Columbia sued by the Trump DOJ as part of a sweeping federal effort to obtain state voter rolls, an initiative federal officials have framed as an election integrity effort. The court rejected that explanation, finding that the government failed to point to any specific wrongdoing in California that would justify such an intrusive demand.

“There cannot be unbridled consolidation of all elections power in the Executive without action from Congress and public debate.This is antithetical to the promise of fair and free elections our country promises and the franchise that civil rights leaders fought and died for,” the judge wrote. “Viewing the DOJ’s campaign to collect sensitive voter data paints an alarming picture regarding the centralization of Americans’ information within the Executive Branch — without approval from Congress or Americans themselves.”

The decision ends the case outright at this stage, dismissing it without leave to amend — a signal that the court found the DOJ’s legal theory fundamentally flawed, not fixable with revised arguments. The judge, however, noted during a hearing that he fully expected the decision would be appealed regardless of the outcome and could ultimately head to the Supreme Court.

*Democracy Docket Founder Marc Elias’s law firm, Elias Law Group, represents intervening defendant in this lawsuit.