U.S. Courts Block DOJ Requests for Voter and Poll Worker Data

Federal judges have rejected two recent attempts by the U.S. Department of Justice to obtain personal election‑related records. In Illinois, U.S. District Judge Colleen Lawless dismissed the DOJ’s lawsuit seeking the state’s full voter registration database, ruling that Congress did not grant the department a general auditing power under the Civil Rights Act of 1960. The judge noted the request exceeded the DOJ’s authority and could not be refiled.

In Georgia, U.S. District Judge William Ray quashed a subpoena issued to Fulton County that demanded the names and contact details of every 2020 poll worker. Ray described the request as overly broad, raising privacy concerns and a potential chilling effect on civic participation, and highlighted that the statute of limitations limited any criminal prosecution related to the 2020 election.