Judge Dismisses DOJ Lawsuit Seeking Illinois Unredacted Voter Rolls

The court found Title III of the Civil Rights Act does not authorize seizure of a voter list a state created, leaving the department limited to an appeal option.

Overview

U.S. District Judge Colleen R. Lawless dismissed the Justice Department’s suit with prejudice on Friday, denying a motion to compel Illinois to turn over its full voter database.
The opinion held that Title III does not reach state-created voter lists and that the attorney general’s written demand failed to state the required specific basis and purpose for requesting sensitive records.
Illinois had given a redacted voter list but not dates of birth, ID numbers or Social Security numbers, while the DOJ sought unredacted files containing driver’s license and Social Security numbers.
A dismissal with prejudice prevents the same district-court claim from being refiled in Illinois, and the ruling was reported as the department’s 19th consecutive district-court loss in similar cases though the DOJ may appeal.
The decision underscores legal limits on federal investigatory power over state election data, raises privacy protections for voters who could be targeted by disclosures, and highlights potential statutory conflicts with the National Voter Registration Act and HAVA.