Federal Court Dismisses DOJ Lawsuit Seeking Sensitive Data of 23 Million California Voters
WASHINGTON, D.C. – A federal court today dismissed the U.S. Department of Justice's lawsuit seeking to compel California to turn over the sensitive personal information of 23 million registered voters. U.S. District Court Judge David O. Carter granted motions to dismiss filed by the State of California and intervenor-defendants, including the NAACP, NAACP California-Hawaii State Conference, and Services, Immigrant Rights and Education Network (SIREN), who are represented by Elias Law Group.
This is the first major ruling in the Trump Administration's nationwide campaign to obtain unredacted voter registration files from states across the country by suing states that refuse to comply. The DOJ has now sued 23 states and Washington, D.C., seeking this information.
"This is a landmark victory for voter privacy and the rule of law," said Elias Law Group partner Lali Madduri. "The court made clear today that the Trump Administration cannot warp civil rights laws designed to protect voters into tools to seize their most sensitive personal information. We are proud to stand alongside the NAACP and SIREN in defense of millions of California voters whose privacy was at stake."
In a comprehensive 33-page order, Judge Carter rejected the DOJ's claims under all three federal statutes it invoked: Title III of the Civil Rights Act of 1960, the National Voter Registration Act, and the Help America Vote Act. The court found that the DOJ failed to provide an adequate legal basis for its demands, and that its requests violated multiple federal privacy laws.
"The taking of democracy does not occur in one fell swoop; it is chipped away piece-by-piece until there is nothing left," Judge Carter wrote. "The case before the Court is one of these cuts that imperils all Americans."
The court also noted that the DOJ's true purpose appeared to extend far beyond its stated justification. "It appears that the DOJ is on a nationwide quest to gather the sensitive, private information of millions of Americans for use in a centralized federal database," the opinion stated.
The DOJ sued California in September 2025 after Secretary of State Shirley Weber declined to hand over the state's full, unredacted voter registration list, which includes voters' names, addresses, Social Security numbers, driver's license numbers, dates of birth, and voting history.
Click HERE to read the full order.
Elias Law Group has moved to intervene on behalf of voters and pro-voting organizations in all of the DOJ's voter data lawsuits.
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