The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals declined to compel Michigan’s Secretary of State to turn over an unredacted voter file containing sensitive personal information of registered voters. The ruling, issued in a 2-1 decision, limits the Department of Justice’s access as part of its broader inquiry into voter rolls and election integrity.
The court determined that Michigan's voter database is not covered under Title III of the Civil Rights Act of 1960, which the DOJ had cited to justify its request. The file includes dates of birth, driver’s license numbers, and partial social security numbers. The judges also concluded that the Justice Department failed to adequately specify the legal basis and purpose for demanding the data.
In explaining its decision, the court used a metaphor comparing the state’s role in compiling the voter data to that of a baker creating a cake from purchased ingredients—arguing that the state “created” the database rather than merely coming into possession of it, thus falling outside the statute cited by the DOJ.
The ruling sparked strong backlash from pro-Trump commentators who criticized the court’s decision as an obstruction to efforts aimed at election security. Activists framed the court as “activist” and called for the case to be appealed to the Supreme Court. However, the legal reality was more complex. A previous lawsuit brought by the DOJ against Michigan had already been dismissed by a Trump-appointed district judge. Moreover, the only Trump appointee on the appeals panel dissented from the majority ruling.
The court did not make any findings related to voter fraud in the case. The Department of Justice had pursued similar demands for voter records in multiple states classified as Democratic strongholds. Critics of the DOJ’s approach have highlighted recent judicial rulings condemning the administration for overstepping legal boundaries, including a decision that found fault with its citizenship verification database for allegedly violating voting rights.
Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson characterized the DOJ’s attempt to obtain Michigan’s voter data as an unconstitutional power grab, defending the state’s authority to safeguard sensitive information. This latest appellate ruling represents another setback for the Justice Department’s push to audit state voting systems amid ongoing tensions over election integrity claims.