Donald Trump administration suffers 21st court loss over voter‑roll requests

The Justice Department’s effort to obtain state voter‑roll data has been rejected for the 21st time this year. Federal judges in both Democratic and Republican states ruled that states are not obligated to provide unredacted voter records, reaffirming that primary responsibility for federal elections lies with the states. The administration has sued more than two dozen states, seeking information such as birthdays and partial Social Security numbers, while also threatening to withhold disaster funds from states that do not adopt a federal voter‑verification system.

A separate California case saw Sacramento County Superior Court Judge Jennifer K. Rockwell reject a Republican‑backed petition to soften the description of Proposition 39, which would bar ballots lacking government‑issued ID. The decision was hailed as a win for clear voter information. Officials such as Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon and California Attorney General Rob Bonta have defended the need for accurate voter rolls, despite investigations showing non‑citizen voting is rare and only 129 prosecutions have occurred since 1996.