{"id":2604676,"date":"2026-05-19T19:07:02","date_gmt":"2026-05-19T23:07:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/ninth-circuit-likely-adds-to-doj-losing-streak-over-state-voter-roll-lawsuits\/"},"modified":"2026-05-19T19:09:44","modified_gmt":"2026-05-19T23:09:44","slug":"ninth-circuit-likely-adds-to-doj-losing-streak-over-state-voter-roll-lawsuits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/ninth-circuit-likely-adds-to-doj-losing-streak-over-state-voter-roll-lawsuits\/","title":{"rendered":"Ninth Circuit likely adds to DOJ losing streak over state voter roll lawsuits"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">26<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fninth-circuit-likely-adds-to-doj-losing-streak-over-state-voter-roll-lawsuits%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2604676&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>A federal appeals court panel sharply questioned the Trump governance\u2019s Department of Justice about why and under what authority it is <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >demanding highly sensitive voter registration data<\/a> from California and Oregon. In multiple lawsuits, the DOJ says federal laws such as the National Voter Registration Act, Help America Vote Act, and the Civil Rights Act of 1960 require states to provide complete voter rolls-including personal identifiers like Social Security and driver\u2019s licence information-for voter-roll maintenance.<\/p>\n<p>On Tuesday, the Ninth Circuit heard arguments in the California and Oregon cases, and the judges appeared skeptical of the DOJ\u2019s motives and legal basis for obtaining unredacted statewide voter lists. DOJ counsel argued that its authority is supported by the Civil Rights Act and that earlier communications to oregon were meant to invite cooperation, while oregon\u2019s lawyer contended the DOJ is effectively trying to rewrite a decades-old statute to force creation of a federal database of registered voters nationwide.<\/p>\n<p>The article also notes that lower courts have repeatedly thrown out similar DOJ efforts, with district judges describing the government\u2019s requests as unprecedented and illegal, and that, the DOJ has not won any of the cases that have reached decisions. Despite the mounting defeats, a recent (non-binding) DOJ legal opinion says the department does have authority to seek statewide voter registration lists and that privacy laws cited earlier do not limit that authority-suggesting the DOJ plans to keep pursuing the litigation.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<article class=\"fn-body\">\n<p>A federal <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/appeals-courts\/\" type=\"post_tag\" id=\"1537\">appeals court<\/a> sharply questioned the <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/department-of-justice\/\" type=\"post_tag\" id=\"438\">Department of Justice<\/a> on Tuesday over its purpose and authority for obtaining voter information from <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/california\/\" type=\"post_tag\" id=\"60\">California<\/a> and <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/oregon\/\" type=\"post_tag\" id=\"1417\">Oregon<\/a>, as the DOJ attempts to end its legal losing streak for its multiple efforts to collect state voter roll information.<\/p>\n<p>In dozens of lawsuits filed across the country, the\u00a0DOJ has claimed the National Voter Registration Act, Help America Vote Act, and Civil Rights Act of 1960 require states to turn over the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/federal-judge-tosses-trumps-bid-to-get-michigan-voter-rolls\/\" title=\"Federal judge tosses Trump&#039;s bid to get Michigan ...\">full state voter registration lists<\/a>, including voters\u2019 personal information, such as Social Security numbers and driver\u2019s license information, as part of voter roll maintenance. In various federal district courts, the Trump administration\u2019s efforts have been unsuccessful, with district court judges tossing lawsuits filed by the DOJ against six states, including California and Oregon.<\/p>\n<section class=\"explore-more-section\" id=\"wex-recommended-widget\">\n<div class=\"magazine-container single\">\n<h1 class=\"magazine-title mt-2\">Recommended Stories<\/h1>\n<p>             <i class=\"fa-solid fa-play icon\"><\/i>         <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-grid\">\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/justice\/4574234\/todd-blanche-promise-not-recommend-pardon-ghislaine-maxwell\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>Blanche promises not to recommend pardon for Ghislaine Maxwell<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/justice\/4574193\/tyler-robinson-lawyers-push-close-key-pretrial-hearing\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>Tyler Robinson\u2019s lawyers push to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/blanche-promises-not-to-recommend-pardon-for-ghislaine-maxwell\/\" title=\"Blanche promises not to recommend pardon for Ghislaine Maxwell\">close key pretrial hearing<\/a><\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/justice\/4574760\/james-comey-jokes-be-in-line-anti-weaponization-doj-fund\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>Comey jokes he\u2019ll \u2018be in line\u2019 for $1.776 billion \u2018anti-weaponization\u2019 DOJ fund<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p>A three-judge panel on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit became the latest court to hear arguments in the DOJ\u2019s bid to obtain voter registration information, hearing appeals in both the California and Oregon cases. The panel appeared largely skeptical of the Justice Department\u2019s motives and authority to obtain the sensitive data.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>U.S. Circuit Judge Lucy Koh, an appointee of former President <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/joe-biden\/\" type=\"post_tag\" id=\"471\">Joe Biden<\/a>, asked DOJ lawyer Andrew Braniff early in oral arguments if their authority to obtain the information under the Civil Rights Act of 1960 was as \u201cplain\u201d as he argues, when the initial letter to Oregon officials seeking the information did not cite the law.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWould you expect if that authority was so plain that you would have included it in that first letter?\u201d Koh asked.<\/p>\n<p>Braniff noted that the DOJ did cite the Civil Rights Act of 1960 in its subsequent letter to state officials, but that \u201cthe first letter was intended to provide Oregon the opportunity to work with the Department of Justice in maintaining a clean and accurate voter role of eligible voters as they are required to do under both the NVRA and HAVA.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Robert Koch, the lawyer arguing for Oregon, called on the three-judge panel to reject the DOJ\u2019s appeal to force the state to hand over the data, alleging it actually violates the same laws the Justice Department has pointed to in an attempt to justify the action.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDOJ seeks to reimagine a 66-year-old civil rights statute to force Oregon to create and disclose an unredacted version of its statewide voter list, and not just Oregon\u2019s, but every state in this country to amass a federal \u2026 database of every registered voter in America. That shocking demand fails\u201d for multiple legal reasons, Koch argued.<\/p>\n<p>The panel, which heard both cases, included U.S. Circuit Judges Mark Bennett, an appointee of President Donald Trump, Salvador Mendoza Jr., a Biden appointee, and Koh.<\/p>\n<p>The Trump administration has sought access to states\u2019 voter rolls to force compliance with laws requiring states to purge ineligible voters from their rolls. Critics have accused some states, particularly blue states, of failing to remove dead or out-of-state registrants from their records even as they loosen election rules, such as by mailing every registered voter a ballot even if he or she did not request one.<\/p>\n<p>The Justice Department under Trump has filed lawsuits across the country seeking sensitive voter registration information from roughly 30 states, and most of those legal battles are still pending in federal district courts. Among the federal district courts that have ruled, the Trump administration has yet to win in a single case.<\/p>\n<p>In federal district court, U.S. District Judge David Carter, an appointee of former President Bill Clinton, <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/justice\/4421868\/california-judge-first-dismiss-doj-suit-seeking-voter-data\/\">dismissed <\/a>the lawsuit\u00a0seeking to get access to California\u2019s voter rolls, saying \u201cthe government\u2019s request is unprecedented and illegal.\u201d U.S District Judge Mustafa Kasubhai, a Biden appointee, rejected the effort to get access to Oregon\u2019s voter rolls, issuing a\u00a0sharply worded <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/storage.courtlistener.com\/recap\/gov.uscourts.ord.188997\/gov.uscourts.ord.188997.73.0_2.pdf\">opinion<\/a> that claimed the actions by the administration were not ordinary. Appeals from both of these cases were heard before the Ninth Circuit on Tuesday.<\/p>\n<p>The DOJ has also faced losses in <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/justice\/4547332\/federal-judge-dismisses-doj-request-arizona-voter-rolls\/\">Arizona<\/a>, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/justice\/4452929\/federal-judge-tosses-trump-bid-michigan-voter-rolls\/\" type=\"link\" id=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/justice\/4452929\/federal-judge-tosses-trump-bid-michigan-voter-rolls\/\">Michigan<\/a>. In each instance, the judges were unconvinced by the DOJ\u2019s arguments that federal law compelled states to hand over the voter registration information.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/justice\/4574193\/tyler-robinson-lawyers-push-close-key-pretrial-hearing\/\" type=\"link\" id=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/justice\/4574193\/tyler-robinson-lawyers-push-close-key-pretrial-hearing\/\">TYLER ROBINSON\u2019S LAWYERS PUSH TO CLOSE KEY PRETRIAL HEARING<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>As the losses have continued to mount in court, the Office of Legal Counsel at the Department of Justice issued a <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.justice.gov\/olc\/media\/1440346\/dl\" type=\"link\" id=\"https:\/\/www.justice.gov\/olc\/media\/1440346\/dl\">non-binding legal opinion<\/a> last week claiming that the DOJ does have the authority to \u201cseek statewide voter registration lists from states,\u201d that \u201cthe Privacy Act, Driver\u2019s Privacy Protection Act, and E-Government Act do not limit that authority,\u201d and that information they obtain may be shared with other government agencies, like the Department of Homeland Security. <\/p>\n<p>While the legal opinion changes the arguments advanced by the administration in federal court, it appears to show that the Justice Department does not intend to stop its efforts despite mounting court losses.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Federal appeals court questioned DOJ\u2019s authority to get voter data from CA and OR<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2638,"featured_media":2604677,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/AP26099797916603.jpg?w=696","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[10123,7076,57073],"class_list":["post-2604676","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-courts","tag-doj","tag-ninth-circuit"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/AP26099797916603.jpg?w=696","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2604676","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2638"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2604676"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2604676\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2604680,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2604676\/revisions\/2604680"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2604677"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2604676"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2604676"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2604676"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}