Appeals court rejects Trump administration's effort to get Michigan's sensitive voter information
Source: CBS News
June 24, 2026 / 4:04 PM EDT
Washington A divided federal appeals court ruled Wednesday that the Justice Department is not entitled to Michigan's voter registration list containing sensitive information from voters in the state.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit is now the first appeals court to weigh in on the Trump administration's efforts to obtain the unredacted voter rolls from more than two dozen states. At issue in the case decided by the 6th Circuit is the Justice Department's demand for the information from Michigan.
In a 2-1 decision, the 6th Circuit said a provision of federal civil rights law does not entitle the government to Michigan's voter registration list, which contains the names, birth dates, driver's license numbers and partial Social Security numbers of all registered voters in the state, among other information.
That 1960 law, Judge Andre Mathis wrote, gave the government "power to ensure that everyone who had the right to vote could freely exercise that right. But today, the government invokes Title III for an inverse purpose to ensure that some people have not voted." He was joined in the majority by Judge Guy Cole Jr. Judge John Nalbandian dissented.
Read more: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/appeals-court-rejects-trump-administration-michigan-sensitive-voter-information/
Link to ORDER (PDF) -
https://www.democracydocket.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/105-2-2026-06-24-Opinion.pdf