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Federal Judge Tosses DOJ Lawsuit Seeking Wisconsin Voter Rolls — Administration’s Ninth Loss

A federal judge in Madison dismissed the Trump administration’s lawsuit against the Wisconsin Elections Commission Thursday, rejecting the DOJ’s demand for an unredacted copy of the state’s complete voter registration database — the administration’s ninth courtroom defeat in its nationwide push to obtain sensitive voter data from state election systems.

U.S. District Judge James Peterson ruled that a voter registration list is simply not a “record” subject to production under Title III of the Civil Rights Act of 1960 — the 66-year-old law the DOJ had argued gave it authority to demand the data. “The court agrees that a voter registration list is not a record subject to production under Title III, so it will dismiss the complaint on that ground without considering defendants’ other arguments,” Peterson wrote. Wisconsin Examiner

The DOJ’s lawsuit, filed in December 2025, sought the complete unredacted voter file — including driver’s license numbers, partial Social Security numbers, addresses, and other personal data — for all 3.6 million registered Wisconsin voters. The Wisconsin Elections Commission had already offered to provide a redacted version of the publicly available voter list, but the DOJ insisted on the full unredacted file. State Attorney General Josh Kaul argued that state and federal privacy laws flatly prohibit sharing the unredacted information. WisPolitics

The UW-Madison State Democracy Research Initiative, which has been tracking the nationwide litigation, noted the DOJ has now filed similar lawsuits against 30 states and Washington, D.C. Courts in Michigan, Arizona, California, Oregon, Rhode Island, and now Wisconsin have all dismissed the suits. At least 12 states — mostly Republican-led — have agreed to provide their voter data voluntarily, with Oklahoma settling and handing over its file in exchange for the DOJ dropping that lawsuit. FOX6 News Milwaukee

Peterson’s ruling is a significant setback for the administration, which has made voter roll scrutiny a centerpiece of its election integrity agenda. The DOJ can appeal to the Seventh Circuit — the same appeals court that covers Wisconsin, Illinois, and Indiana — or refile with a different legal theory. For now, Wisconsin’s voter data stays in Wisconsin.

The ruling lands on a significant day in Wisconsin election news. Earlier today, the same federal courthouse where Aimee Bock received her 41.5-year sentence for the $250 million Feeding Our Future fraud saw this voter rolls ruling from Judge Peterson — two major Wisconsin legal decisions in a single afternoon, moving in opposite directions on accountability and oversight questions that will define the state’s political landscape heading into November.

Sources: Wisconsin Examiner / Yahoo News | WPR | WBAY | WRJN Racine | UW State Democracy Research Initiative — Tracker | WisPolitics / Law Forward