How the Justice Department's election lawsuits unfolded
The Justice Department sought unredacted voter registration lists through lawsuits beginning in September 2025. Courts dismissed several suits and Oklahoma settled. Before the November 2026 midterms, the department also sought to set aside disputed California ballots and block Alaska Senate certification in specified circumstances. Lower courts denied those requests. The department appealed and asked the Supreme Court for emergency relief in California.
16 September 2025 to 2 November 2026 · 29 dated events · 59 sources
Status in the record · 2 November 2026
As of 2 November 2026, the Sixth Circuit has affirmed dismissal of the Michigan voter list lawsuit. California ballot relief was denied by the district court and Ninth Circuit, and the Justice Department has asked the Supreme Court for emergency relief, the Associated Press reports. The Alaska certification suit was dismissed for lack of standing and the department appealed. The allegations about voter citizenship remain disputed.
Coverage through2 November 2026Editorial review2 November 2026
Next date 3 November 2026 Election day
Main story: 16 September 2025 to 2 November 2026. The full timeline also includes labelled context or related events.
Overview · 16 Sep 2025 to 2 Nov 2026 · click a dot to jump
29 events shown
2025
16 Sep 2025
Turning point
Filing
First voter roll lawsuits filed against Oregon and Maine
The Justice Department's Civil Rights Division sued Oregon and Secretary of State Tobias Read, and Maine and Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, in federal court for refusing to hand over unredacted statewide voter registration lists. The department cited the National Voter Registration Act, the Help America Vote Act and the Civil Rights Act of 1960. The Associated Press said the department had asked at least 26 states for their lists, in some cases including driver's license numbers or partial Social Security numbers.
“States simply cannot pick and choose which federal laws they will comply with”Harmeet K. Dhillon, Assistant Attorney General, US Department of Justice, Office of Public Affairs
Maine and Oregon election chiefs say they will defend the suits
Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows said it was absurd that the department was targeting her state, and Oregon Secretary of State Tobias Read said he would protect voters' rights and privacy and looked forward to seeing the department in court, the Associated Press reported. AP said election officials questioned whether the department needed the data and worried it could be used to search for noncitizens on the rolls.
TTobias Read, Oregon Secretary of State16 Sep 2025
I stand by my oath to the people of Oregon, and I will protect their rights and privacy.
The department sued California, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, New Hampshire and Pennsylvania in federal court for failing to produce their statewide voter registration lists on request, citing the same three federal laws.
“Clean voter rolls are the foundation of free and fair elections”Pamela Bondi, Attorney General, US Department of Justice, Office of Public Affairs
The department sued Colorado, Hawaii, Massachusetts and Nevada to compel production of their voter registration lists, bringing its nationwide total to 18, it said.
Justice Department sues Fulton County for 2020 ballots
The Justice Department announced a separate federal lawsuit seeking Fulton County records related to the 2020 election. The filing sought records rather than a judicial finding that election fraud occurred.
District of Columbia, Georgia, Illinois and Wisconsin sued
The department sued the District of Columbia, Georgia, Illinois and Wisconsin for their full voter registration lists. It said this brought its nationwide total to 22 lawsuits and that Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee had agreed to provide their lists voluntarily.
The department sued Arizona and Connecticut, which it said brought the number of jurisdictions it had sued over voter rolls to 23 states and the District of Columbia.
In United States v. Weber (No. 2:25-cv-09149), US District Judge David O. Carter dismissed the department's suit for California's unredacted voter file without leave to amend. His order called the request unprecedented and illegal and said the suit appeared to be a fishing expedition.
“Even the federal government is not permitted to sue first, obtain discovery, and finalize its allegations later.”Judge David O. Carter, US District Court for the Central District of California (copy hosted by the Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse)
US District Judge Mustafa Kasubhai dismissed the department's suit for Oregon's voter rolls, with a written opinion to follow, the Associated Press reported. Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield welcomed the decision.
The FBI seized 2020 ballots and other election materials from Fulton County's election hub in Union City, Georgia, under a search warrant, the Associated Press later reported. The county's lawyers argued the department turned to a criminal warrant after tiring of its civil case.
In United States v. Benson (No. 1:25-cv-1148), Chief US District Judge Hala Y. Jarbou granted motions to dismiss by Michigan, Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson and intervening groups, holding that the Help America Vote Act, the National Voter Registration Act and the Civil Rights Act of 1960 do not allow the United States to obtain the records at issue.
Five more states sued, taking the total to 29 and the District of Columbia
The department announced lawsuits against West Virginia, Utah, Oklahoma, Kentucky and New Jersey for failing to produce voter registration lists. It said the new filings brought the total to 29 states and the District of Columbia.
Oklahoma settles and the department drops its suit
Oklahoma agreed to provide voter registration data under a settlement limiting its use to assessing compliance with the National Voter Registration Act and Help America Vote Act. The agreement specifies a driver's license number, the last four Social Security digits or a unique identifier as applicable, rather than requiring both numbers for every voter. Neither side admitted liability. The department voluntarily dismissed its suit without prejudice.
Judge lets the Justice Department keep the Fulton County ballots
In Pitts v. United States (No. 1:26-cv-00809), brought by Fulton County Board of Commissioners Chairman Robb Pitts and others, US District Judge J.P. Boulee denied the amended motion for return of the seized 2020 ballots and closed the case. He found the petitioners had not shown that their rights were callously disregarded. Pitts said the county would vigorously pursue all available legal options, the Associated Press reported. AP did not report the status of the department's civil suit.
“The seizure in this case was certainly not perfect.”Judge J.P. Boulee, US District Court for the Northern District of Georgia (copy hosted by Ohio State University Election Law)
Chief US District Judge Lance E. Walker granted motions to dismiss the Maine voter list case. In Wisconsin, Judge James D. Peterson dismissed the department's suit with prejudice. Both decisions rejected the department's claimed statutory basis for obtaining the unredacted statewide voter list.
US District Judge Stephanie Gallagher dismissed the department's Maryland suit, holding that a statewide voter registration list was not a record the state had to produce under the Civil Rights Act of 1960, the Associated Press reported.
In United States v. Benson (No. 26-1225), a Sixth Circuit panel affirmed the Michigan dismissal 2-1. Judge Andre Mathis wrote for the majority, joined by Judge R. Guy Cole Jr., holding that Michigan's qualified voter file was created by the state rather than coming into its possession and so is not a record the department can demand under Title III of the Civil Rights Act of 1960. Judge John Nalbandian dissented. On 14 August the full court denied rehearing en banc, with five judges dissenting from the denial.
US District Judge Mae A. D'Agostino granted motions to dismiss the department's lawsuit seeking New York's unredacted statewide voter registration list.
Court rules against the department's voter data policy in Common Cause suit
In Common Cause v. US Department of Justice, Judge Sparkle L. Sooknanan granted partial summary judgment to the plaintiffs and vacated the department's Voter List Maintenance Policy. The opinion rejected the department's asserted authority for that policy.
Justice Department sues California over 20,000 mail ballots
The department sued California and election officials, seeking to prevent the counting of ballots associated with more than 20,000 registrations it alleged involved likely noncitizens until citizenship was verified. This was the government's allegation, not a court finding. California disputed the reliability of the federal matching process.
Justice Department sues over Alaska Senate certification
In a separate case, the department sued in federal court in Alaska to block certification of the Senate result if Senator Dan S. Sullivan loses while another candidate named Dan J. Sullivan remains on the ballot, the Associated Press reported. The overview timeline covers this suit in detail.
Ninth Circuit dismisses the department's early California appeal
After the district judge set a 27 October hearing, the department appealed for faster relief. In an order in No. 26-7070, a Ninth Circuit panel granted Los Angeles County's motion to dismiss the appeal for lack of jurisdiction, saying the government had not given the district court an adequate chance to consider its request. Judge Patrick J. Bumatay dissented.
“failed to allow the district court adequate opportunity to consider”Ninth Circuit majority, US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (copy hosted by Democracy Docket)
Washington state asked to hold ballots of more than 400 voters
Federal prosecutors asked Washington to set aside ballots from 405 people they said might not be citizens, the Associated Press reported. Secretary of State Steve Hobbs challenged the demand and the reliability of the federal information.
In United States v. State of California (No. 2:26-cv-12025), Judge David O. Carter denied the department's application for a temporary restraining order to set aside the ballots. His order said granting it would risk disenfranchising an untold number of voters, that he could not conclude the government's matching process was credible, and that the list was the kind of systematic program the National Voter Registration Act's 90-day provision was meant to preclude. The department appealed.
“Once a vote is segregated, lasting harm has occurred.”Judge David O. Carter, US District Court for the Central District of California (copy hosted by Democracy Docket)
Washington rejects the demand and says citizens are on the list
Secretary of State Steve Hobbs rejected the demand in a published letter. He said a preliminary review found US citizens on the list and that refusing to process ballots without individual evidence of ineligibility would be irresponsible and illegal.
Ninth Circuit denies the California ballot request 2-1
In No. 26-7231, a Ninth Circuit panel denied the department's emergency motion for an injunction pending appeal. The unsigned majority, for Judges Mark J. Bennett and Gabriel P. Sanchez, found no feasible way to identify and segregate specific voters' ballots without potentially catastrophic effects. Judge Patrick J. Bumatay dissented, calling the request a modest remedy. Department lawyers said they would go to the Supreme Court, the Associated Press reported.
“We decline the United States's invitation to contravene the Elections Clause by undermining the Constitution's plain text.”Ninth Circuit majority, US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (copy hosted by Democracy Docket)
Separate orders limit federal action on California ballots
In a suit brought by labor unions, US District Judge Trina L. Thompson barred the department from threatening or coercing election workers and from demanding that officials segregate or not count ballots, and a federal judge in Washington ordered the administration to share the list of about 20,000 names with voting rights groups, which the government appealed, the Associated Press reported. AP said Los Angeles County election officials had received grand jury subpoenas.
Judge Sharon Gleason dismissed the Alaska certification suit for lack of Article III standing because the proposed relief would not redress the alleged injury. She found no workable way to segregate the relevant ballots while preserving ballot secrecy. Dismissal was without prejudice and without leave to amend, with no decision on the underlying merits. The department filed a notice of appeal.
Department asks the Supreme Court to stop the count of the California ballots
The department asked the Supreme Court to block California from counting disputed ballots associated with about 20,000 registrations it alleged involved noncitizens, the Associated Press reported. California disputed the reliability of that allegation. The application sought emergency relief after lower courts refused it.
United States v. Weber, No. 2:25-cv-09149, order granting motions to dismiss (ECF 128)
US District Court for the Central District of California (copy hosted by the Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse) · clearinghouse-umich-production.s3.amazonaws.com
Coverage through 2 November 2026. Editorial review: 2 November 2026. Spotted an error? See corrections. Copyright concerns: report an asset. Every event links to its sources. Source type does not establish whether a claim is true.
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