Federal Appeals Court Blocks DOJ from Accessing Michigan Voter Registry

A federal appeals court has decided against allowing the Department of Justice (DOJ) to inspect Michigan’s voter registry for signs of fraud. In a close 2-1 decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit ruled that the Trump administration was misusing Title III of the Civil Rights Act of 1960.

Title III aims to “help eliminate voting discrimination,” the court noted. Judge Andre Mattis, in the majority opinion, emphasized that Congress intended this act to combat discrimination in voting. “Title III put a brake on previous civil rights laws by granting the U.S. Attorney General the authority to obtain voting records in specific states, investigate potential violations, and enforce federal election laws. At that time, this was about ensuring everyone entitled to vote could do so freely.”

However, Judge Mattis pointed out that now the government appears to be using Title III for a different agenda: “to ensure that there are people who are not voting.”

He mentioned that during the summer of 2025, the Trump administration, alongside Washington, D.C., sought election records from all states. Michigan was specifically required to submit its voter list, which encompasses voters’ names, birth dates, and partial Social Security numbers.

After the government initiated a lawsuit to compel Michigan’s Secretary of State to release unredacted voter registration records, the district court dismissed this lawsuit. The court found that Title III’s limited provisions couldn’t support the government’s extensive demands.

In the summer of 2025, the U.S. requested election records from almost every state and the District of Columbia. As part of this push, the government mandated that Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson compile the state’s voter rolls. Just three weeks later, they escalated their demands, seeking not only names but also birth dates, some Social Security numbers, and driver’s license numbers of every registered voter. Benson provided a public version of Michigan’s voting list but held back more sensitive information, arguing that the federal government had no legal basis for such intricate requests. Consequently, the government filed a lawsuit to force Benson to hand over those records. However, the district court dismissed the case, asserting that Title III’s narrow provisions couldn’t support the government’s broader requests. This ruling has now been confirmed.

According to CBS News, this federal appeals court ruling marks the first instance where an appellate court has evaluated the Trump administration’s attempts to acquire unredacted voter rolls from states. Notably, nine district courts have already dismissed similar lawsuits against various states.