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Judge Susan Brnovich dismisses DOJ suit seeking Arizona voter data, another setback to Trump push.
to see more of our trusted coverage when you search.seeking access to Arizona’s detailed voter registration records,The ruling underscores growing judicial resistance to the administration’s election‑oversight strategy, which has repeatedly been blocked over privacy and statutory concerns.
The Arizona decision could further complicate the DOJ’s similar lawsuits pending across the country. U.S. District Judge Susan Brnovich, a Trump appointee, ruled that Arizona’s statewide voter registration list is “not a document subject to request by the Attorney General” under federal law and dismissed the case with prejudice, writing that any attempt to amend the lawsuit would be “legally futile. ” Brnovich was appointed by Trump in 2018 during his first term.
The Justice Department sued Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes in January, arguing the state failed to comply with a federal request for detailed voter data. That information includes voters’ dates of birth, home addresses, driver’s license numbers and partial“This moment is a win for voter privacy,” Fontes said in a statement.
“I will never comply with illegal requests that put Arizona voters in harm’s way. ”Tuesday’s ruling in Arizona follows a series of court losses for the Justice Department as it seeks access to detailed voter registration records nationwide. Judges have rejected similar DOJ lawsuits in Rhode Island, California, Massachusetts, Michigan and Oregon. In Georgia, a judge dismissed the federal government’s case on procedural grounds after it was filed in the wrong city, prompting the department to refile the lawsuit elsewhere.
The DOJ has sued at least 30 states and the District of Columbia in an effort to compel the release of expanded voter data, according to reporting by the Associated Press and the Brennan Center for Justice. Federal officials say the information is needed to ensure states are complying with federal election laws requiring regular maintenance of voter rolls, including removing ineligible voters.
Opponents argue the requests violate state and federal privacy protections and unnecessarily expose sensitive personal information.where a Justice Department attorney acknowledged in court that the department sought unredacted voter rolls so the data could be shared with the Department of Homeland Security to help verify voters’ citizenship status. Despite repeated court setbacks, some states have agreed to cooperate.
At least 13 states have either provided or pledged to provide detailed voter registration data to the Justice Department: Alaska, Arkansas, Indiana, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas and Wyoming. This article includes reporting by the Associated Press.
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