Fed judge dismisses lawsuit seeking voter data
COLUMBUS (AP) — The Trump administration’s attempts to obtain state-level voter data have suffered yet another legal blow.
U.S. District Court Judge Stephanie Gallagher last week dismissed a Justice Department lawsuit against Maryland that sought access to the state’s voter records.
Gallagher, appointed by Republican President Donald Trump during his first term, wrote that she “joins every court to have addressed this issue” in concluding that the unredacted voter registration file “is not a record or paper that a state must produce to the United States.”
With the dismissal Thursday in Maryland, the number of states where the Justice Department has lost similar cases comes to nine. The department has sued to force release of detailed state voter data — which includes dates of birth, addresses, driver’s license numbers and partial Social Security numbers — in 30 states and the District of Columbia.
At least 13 states, including Ohio, have either provided or promised to provide their voter registration lists to the department, according to the Brennan Center for Justice and Associated Press.



