A federal appeals court on Wednesday rejected an appeal by the Trump administration seeking access to personal information of registered voters in Michigan, marking another setback in the administration's efforts to obtain voter data from multiple states. The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, in a 2-1 decision, affirmed a federal judge's earlier ruling that the requested information, including birth dates, driver's license numbers, and partial Social Security numbers, is not covered by the federal law the Justice Department cited.
Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson stated that the federal government would only receive a list of registered voters, similar to what is available to the general public. The Trump administration had argued it needed the personal data to ensure Michigan's compliance with federal election law, citing unspecified "anomalies" and complaints. However, Michigan's attorneys countered that the government's objective was to create a national voter file and share information with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to investigate potential voting by noncitizens.
Judges have previously denied similar requests from the federal government in Maryland, Arizona, California, Maine, Massachusetts, Oregon, Rhode Island, and Wisconsin. A lawsuit filed in Georgia was dismissed because it was in the wrong city, leading the government to refile the case elsewhere.
As of recent reporting, at least 13 states have provided or agreed to furnish their voter registration lists to the federal government. These states include Alaska, Arkansas, Indiana, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, and Wyoming, according to the Brennan Center for Justice and Associated Press.