The court ordered the DOJ to turn over records faster
This is a win, Mark
- Mon, Apr 6 2026 at 1:45 PM
Mark, we just got a major win:
The court ordered the DOJ to turn over records faster in CREW’s lawsuit demanding transparency around the Trump administration's effort to collect state voter rolls.
When the Trump administration tried to build a national voter database behind closed doors, CREW filed a records request to understand how federal officials intend to use millions of Americans’ sensitive data to influence state election administration.
When the DOJ failed to comply, we sued—and won.
But even then, the DOJ stalled. So now, the court is forcing the agency to process over 1,000 pages a week.
This is a big win in our fight for transparency and a setback in the Trump administration’s efforts to undermine Americans’ right to vote.
Here’s what you need to know, Mark:
On March 25, 2025, President Trump signed an executive order requiring states to turn over confidential voter data to the federal government for the stated purpose of determining voter eligibility and combating noncitizen voting, even though noncitizen voting is already illegal and extremely rare.
The DOJ sent letters to over 40 states demanding copies of their statewide voter registration files, which contain personal information like residential addresses, driver’s license numbers and Social Security numbers.
As a result, the DOJ is reportedly amassing “the largest set of national voter roll data it has ever collected” and has sued 14 states for failing to provide their full voter registration files.
On September 4, CREW filed a FOIA request to the DOJ’s Criminal and Civil Divisions seeking records on the DOJ’s legal basis for the effort, the scope of the DOJ’s intended usage of state voter data and the privacy and data security safeguards in place for protecting the data.
On November 4, we sent an additional records request to the DOJ Civil Rights Division for all formal and informal data-sharing agreements between the DOJ and state or election officials, as well as records relating to the DOJ’s use of DHS’s SAVE database for voter citizenship verification.
Then, on January 30, 2026, we requested a preliminary injunction directing the DOJ to produce records on an expedited basis, given the urgency of gaining insight into the federal government’s collection and sharing of voter data in an election year.
On February 19, CREW won a preliminary injunction against the Trump administration, requiring the DOJ to turn over records on an expedited basis regarding its efforts to compile millions of Americans’ sensitive voter data from states nationwide.
These records will help the public understand how federal officials intend to use Americans’ sensitive data to influence state election administration and whether our privacy rights are being respected in the process.
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