Cybersecurity Policy Report, Federal Court Asked to Block DoJ’s Demands for State Voter Data, (Apr 21, 2026)

By Tom Leithauser

The Trump administration is violating the Constitution and federal privacy law by demanding states’ voter registration data and using the data to compile a centralized database, according to a lawsuit filed today by Common Cause and four individuals.

“The U.S. Department of Justice (‘DOJ’) has launched an illegal and unprecedented quest to stockpile millions of Americans’ confidential voter data in a system of records within its Civil Rights Division,” Common Cause told the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

“DOJ has demanded that nearly every state and the District of Columbia turn over their unredacted statewide voter registration lists (‘Confidential Voter Lists’), which vary among states but include sensitive personal information such as Social Security numbers, driver’s license numbers, signatures, dates of birth, home addresses, places of birth, political party affiliation, and voter participation history,” it said.

“DOJ is using this highly sensitive data to build—without statutory authorization—a sprawling new voter surveillance and purging apparatus that endangers millions of Americans’ fundamental voting and privacy rights,” Common Cause said.

“No federal statute authorizes DOJ’s sprawling new voter surveillance, data consolidation, and purging operation. In taking these actions, DOJ is usurping powers that the Constitution and federal statutes vest in the States. DOJ has also run roughshod over the Privacy Act, the Paperwork Reduction Act (‘PRA’), and the Administrative Procedure Act (‘APA’), threatening millions of Americans’ fundamental rights in the process,” the group alleged.

“Centralizing hundreds of millions of Americans’ state-level voter data in a single federal system also presents major cybersecurity risks, creating a new target for hackers and malign foreign actors who seek to undermine our elections and Americans’ data security,” it added.

Common Cause noted that DoJ filed lawsuits against 30 states that refused its request for voter data. “Federal courts have dismissed five of DOJ’s suits for failure to state a claim, with two holding that the agency’s data demands exceed its statutory authority and violate federal and state privacy laws,” it said.

“But at least 12 and, according to DOJ, as many as 19 states have acquiesced to DOJ’s demands for their Confidential Voter Lists, including Alaska, Arkansas, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, and Wyoming,” it said.

“These states have disregarded the privacy and voting rights of millions of Americans who never consented to disclosing their sensitive personal data to the federal government for undefined purposes and without statutory authorization,” according to the group.

The lawsuit asks the court to block DoJ’s efforts (Common Cause, et al., v. U.S. Department of Justice, et al., No. 1:26-cv-01352 (D.D.C. Apr. 21, 2026)).

DoJ had no immediate comment on the lawsuit and hasn’t filed a reply. In a lawsuit against the state of Massachusetts, which was dismissed by a district court, DoJ said its requests for voter data were lawful for the enforcement of the Civil Rights Act of 1960, National Voter Registration Act of 1993, and Help America Vote Act of 2002 (CPR, April 10).

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