Public Trust Tracker

ELX-003 · Elections · Voter rolls

Justice Department demands full state voter rolls

Stage 4 of 5: Legal action · Lawsuits, subpoenas, charges · Last development 19 Oct 2026

Since May 2025 the Justice Department has asked nearly every state for its full voter list, including driver's licence and partial Social Security numbers, and said it would run the data against the Department of Homeland Security's SAVE citizenship database. It has sued 30 states and DC for refusing; courts have dismissed 26 of those cases, and the Sixth Circuit affirmed the Michigan dismissal. At least 16 states handed over complete files. On 9 October 2026 a federal judge ruled that the policy of collecting the lists to check against SAVE violates voter privacy and intrudes on states' authority over elections.

Lawsuit counts come from the Brennan Center, an advocacy group, and were checked on 16 Oct 2026. Oklahoma settled with the department.

People
Harmeet Dhillon, Pam Bondi, Justice Department Civil Rights Division
Reviewed by
Federal courts, Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, Secretaries of state of both parties

Timeline

  1. The Justice Department tells Judge Sooknanan that its California voter-roll lawsuit is not covered by her 9 October order because it rests on "independent analysis under its own authority based on a voter roll that it received through a lawful purchase", and says no status conference is needed. [7]

  2. The Justice Department files a notice of appeal to the D.C. Circuit and asks Judge Sooknanan to pause her 9 October ruling while it appeals, arguing "there is no such policy" and that the ruling has "hamstrung" its enforcement of election laws. [4]

  3. Judge Sooknanan orders the Justice Department to respond by 19 October to Common Cause's request for a status conference on whether DOJ's letters to California and its suit against the state violate her order; DOJ says the order does not cover other methods. [6]

  4. Federal judge grants partial summary judgment in Common Cause v. DOJ, vacating the data-collection policy. [3]

  5. Common Cause and four members sue to stop a national voter database and the use of SAVE on the data. [1]

  6. Department sues California, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, New Hampshire and Pennsylvania for not producing their lists. [2]

  7. Justice Department begins demanding statewide voter registration lists. [1]

Responses

  • Attorney General Pam Bondi: "Clean voter rolls are the foundation of free and fair elections." [2]

Sources

  1. Brennan Center, DOJ voter-information tracker (advocacy group; checked 16 Oct 2026)
  2. Justice Department press release, 25 Sep 2025
  3. ACLU press release on Common Cause v. DOJ, 9 Oct 2026 (plaintiffs' counsel)
  4. Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse, docket of Common Cause v. DOJ (D.D.C. 1:26-cv-01352)
  5. Democracy Docket, 17 Oct 2026 (outlet founded by Marc Elias)
  6. States Newsroom via Raw Story, 17 Oct 2026
  7. Democracy Docket (outlet founded by Marc Elias), 20 Oct 2026

Cite this case

Public Trust Tracker. "Justice Department demands full state voter rolls" (ELX-003). Last updated 19 Oct 2026. https://publictrusttracker.org/case/elx-003-justice-department-demands-full-state-voter-rolls/

Suggest a fact check