Federal judge rejects DOJ bid for full, unredacted DC voter rolls

A federal judge in Washington, D.C., ruled against the Justice Department’s attempt to obtain a full, unredacted set of voter registration records for the District of Columbia. Judge Randolph D. Moss issued a 23-page decision rejecting the department’s claim that the request was necessary for a broader program to verify voter rolls and eliminate ineligible voters. The DOJ had previously sought comprehensive data—including full names, dates of birth, addresses and either driver’s license numbers or the last four digits of Social Security numbers—from D.C. and nearly every state.

D.C. election officials provided only a restricted list, arguing that privacy laws prohibit the disclosure of such personal identifiers. Moss described the request as an unprecedented effort to collect sensitive voter information and dismissed the lawsuit. This ruling adds to a series of defeats for the department, with twenty-one judges having ruled against similar requests so far.