Federal judge dismisses DOJ lawsuit against Arizona seeking voter data

PHOENIX (AP) — A federal judge on Tuesday dismissed a U.S. Department of Justice lawsuit against Arizona seeking access to the state's detailed voter records, the latest legal setback in a nationwide effort by the Trump administration.

U.S. District Judge Susan Brnovich, a Trump appointee, wrote that Arizona's statewide voter registration list is “not a document subject to request by the Attorney General" under federal law. The judge dismissed the lawsuit with prejudice because, she wrote, “amendment would be legally futile.”

The dismissal of the Arizona lawsuit follows a string of other rulings against the Department of Justice in similar cases in other states. The DOJ has sued at least 30 states and the District of Columbia seeking to force release of detailed voter data, which includes dates of birth, addresses, driver’s license numbers and partial Social Security numbers.

In addition to Arizona, judges have rejected those attempts in Rhode Island, California, Massachusetts, Michigan and Oregon. In Georgia, a judge dismissed a DOJ lawsuit because it had been filed in the wrong city, prompting the government to refile elsewhere.

The DOJ sued Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes in January for failing to comply with its request for the detailed voter information.

“This moment is a win for voter privacy,” Fontes said in a statement. “I will never comply with illegal requests that put Arizona voters in harms way.”

The Department of Justice did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

At least 13 states have either provided or promised to provide their detailed voter registration lists to the department, according to the Brennan Center and Associated Press reporting: Alaska, Arkansas, Indiana, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas and Wyoming.

Federal officials say they need the voter data to ensure that states are complying with federal election laws related to maintaining voter registration lists. In the Rhode Island case, a Justice Department attorney acknowledged that the department was seeking unredacted voter roll information so it could be shared with the Department of Homeland Security to check citizenship status.

Democratic and some Republican officials have objected to the requests and said such a demand violates state and federal privacy laws.