Voter Roll Battle Heats Up as DOJ Weighs Supreme Court Appeal
The Justice Department’s campaign to obtain unredacted voter-registration files from states is moving closer to a possible Supreme Court fight after another major appellate setback.
On August 14, the full U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit declined to rehear the Michigan case, leaving in place a 2–1 panel ruling that rejected the DOJ’s demand for confidential voter data, including driver’s-license and Social Security numbers. The case is United States v. Benson.
The administration says Section 303 of the Civil Rights Act of 1960 allows the attorney general to inspect and copy statewide voter records. A May opinion from the DOJ’s Office of Legal Counsel supports that interpretation and says the department may share the information with Homeland Security to identify people it believes are ineligible to vote.
States and voting-rights advocates argue that the law does not authorize the federal government to build a national voter database, and that mass requests for sensitive information threaten voter privacy. Lower federal courts have repeatedly rejected the DOJ’s position. The department has appealed many of those losses, but no court has ordered a state to surrender a complete, unredacted voter roll.
The dispute now has a clear next step: the DOJ could ask the Supreme Court to review the Michigan ruling. Attorney General Todd Blanche said taking the issue to the high court is “absolutely” a possibility. Blanche was confirmed by the Senate on August 8 and had previously served as Donald Trump’s personal defense attorney in criminal cases. No Supreme Court petition has been publicly reported as of August 17.
For voters, the practical question is whether efforts to remove ineligible registrations can be conducted without wrongly flagging eligible citizens. Election officials typically warn that outdated or mismatched records can produce false positives, especially for naturalized citizens.
Neighbors can follow updates from their state elections office, confirm registration through official government websites, and avoid sharing personal information with unsolicited callers or messages. Brownstone Worldwide will continue tracking the court proceedings and their implications for voters.
What do you think: Should the federal government have broader access to state voter rolls, or should privacy and state control remain the priority?
Sources: U.S. Department of Justice; CNN; Reuters; NPR; Democracy Docket.
