Judge dismisses DOJ bid for Wisconsin unredacted voter list

A federal judge in Wisconsin on Thursday dismissed a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Department of Justice seeking the state's unredacted voter registration list, marking another legal defeat for the federal government in a nationwide effort to obtain detailed voter data. The ruling came the same day a federal judge in Maine dismissed a nearly identical Justice Department lawsuit against that state.

In his ruling, U.S. District Judge James Peterson stated the department's claim that the Wisconsin Elections Commission violated the Civil Rights Act by withholding the data failed as a matter of law. The federal government had requested Wisconsin's voter rolls late last year, seeking information including full birthdates, driver's license numbers, and partial Social Security numbers. The state commission argued that Wisconsin law explicitly prohibits election officials from disclosing such sensitive information to most individuals who are not election officials.

In Maine, Chief U.S. District Judge Lance Walker described the federal government's legal claim as halfhearted and granted the state's motion to dismiss. In his written opinion, Judge Walker stated that allowing the federal...