A federal judge in the United States has delivered a significant blow to the Trump administration's efforts to obtain sensitive personal information on millions of California voters, labelling the attempt a direct threat to American democracy.
Court Dismisses Justice Department's Sweeping Data Request
In a blistering ruling on Thursday, US District Judge David Carter dismissed a lawsuit filed by the US Justice Department against the state of California. The department had sought a comprehensive list of all registered voters in the state, including their dates of birth and the last four digits of their Social Security numbers.
The Justice Department, under the Trump administration, claimed this data was necessary to ensure California was properly removing ineligible voters from its rolls, as required by the National Voter Registration Act. However, California's Secretary of State refused to hand over the full, unredacted information, offering instead a limited inspection of redacted records.
A "Chilling Effect" on the Right to Vote
Judge Carter, an appointee of former President Bill Clinton, issued a forceful rejection of the federal government's arguments. He stated that centralising such sensitive information would have a "chilling effect on voter registration" and would likely decrease turnout, as citizens feared their data could be misused.
"This risk threatens the right to vote which is the cornerstone of American democracy," Carter wrote in his decision. He further accused the Justice Department of using its request as a pretext for "comprehensive data collection" and pointed to evidence suggesting the information could be cross-referenced with Department of Homeland Security (DHS) records for immigration enforcement purposes.
Civil Rights Law Invoked for Opposite Purpose
The judge was particularly scathing about the administration's use of the 1960 Civil Rights Act to justify its demand. Carter noted this provision was originally designed to protect Black voters in the Jim Crow South, not to "forsake the privacy rights of millions of Americans."
This lawsuit was part of a broader campaign, with the Justice Department having filed similar litigation in 23 other states and the District of Columbia. The ruling has been hailed as a major victory by voting rights advocates. Dax Goldstein of the States United Democracy Center said the court sent a "clear message: states run elections, not the administration."
Despite administration claims of widespread issues, evidence of non-citizen voting remains minimal. DHS has reportedly run about 50 million voter records through an immigration database, flagging approximately 10,000 potential non-citizens—a rate of just 0.02%. A handful of states that complied with similar data requests found no evidence of systemic fraud.
In a stark warning, Judge Carter concluded that democracy is eroded piece by piece, stating: "The case before the court is one of these cuts that imperils all Americans." A federal judge in Oregon has also indicated he will block a parallel request for voter data in that state.
