Judge Dismisses DOJ Voter Data Suit in Rhode Island

A federal judge in Rhode Island on Friday dismissed a U.S. Department of Justice lawsuit seeking detailed personal information on nearly 750,000 registered voters in the state, marking another legal defeat for the Trump administration's efforts to obtain such data nationwide.

U.S. District Judge Mary McElroy in Providence ruled that the Justice Department lacked authority under federal election laws to demand unredacted voter records, including dates of birth, addresses, driver's license numbers and the last four digits of Social Security numbers. The department had argued the information was necessary to verify compliance with federal voter list maintenance requirements and to ensure election integrity. Rhode Island election officials, led by Democratic Secretary of State Gregg M. Amore, had refused to provide the sensitive data, offering only publicly available voter lists instead.

McElroy described the request as an unprecedented "fishing expedition" without a factual basis, noting that the Justice Department failed to allege any specific violations by the state. She drew on a prior ruling in Oregon, which similarly rejected the demand for lacking a clear purpose under the...