{"id":2637495,"date":"2026-07-29T21:34:02","date_gmt":"2026-07-30T01:34:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/doj-suffers-setback-in-nj-voter-roll-lawsuit-despite-illegal-registrants-scandal\/"},"modified":"2026-07-29T21:39:04","modified_gmt":"2026-07-30T01:39:04","slug":"doj-suffers-setback-in-nj-voter-roll-lawsuit-despite-illegal-registrants-scandal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/doj-suffers-setback-in-nj-voter-roll-lawsuit-despite-illegal-registrants-scandal\/","title":{"rendered":"DOJ suffers setback in NJ voter roll lawsuit despite illegal registrants scandal"},"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\">24<\/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%2Fdoj-suffers-setback-in-nj-voter-roll-lawsuit-despite-illegal-registrants-scandal%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=2637495&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>The Justice Department (DOJ) faced its 18th consecutive loss in a nationwide effort to access unredacted state voter rolls after a federal judge dismissed its lawsuit against New Jersey. The judge,Zahid Quraishi,granted the state&#8217;s motion to dismiss and denied the DOJ\u2019s request to access the complete voter registration database,citing privacy concerns and legal conflicts. The case revolved around the DOJ\u2019s attempt to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/naacp-seeks-to-block-doj-use-of-fulton-county-election-data\/\" title=\"NAACP seeks to block ... use of Fulton County ...\">obtain detailed voter information<\/a> to scrutinize election records, which New Jersey argued was protected under state law. Despite a disclosure that recent software issues had led to roughly 6,600 noncitizens being added to voter rolls-with about 400 voting-the judge ruled that this did not necessitate surrendering the full voter list. The DOJ plans to appeal the ruling, continuing a legal battle over access to election data. The case highlights ongoing tensions between federal efforts to monitor voter registration and state protections of voter privacy.  <\/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 class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/department-of-justice\/\">Justice Department<\/a> suffered its 18th straight loss on Wednesday in its nationwide campaign to obtain unredacted state voter rolls, as a federal judge dismissed the <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/trump-administration\/\">Trump administration<\/a>\u2018s lawsuit against <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/new-jersey\/\">New Jersey<\/a> despite the state\u2019s recent disclosure that thousands of noncitizens were illegally registered to vote.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">U.S. District Judge Zahid Quraishi, an appointee of former President <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/joe-biden\/\">Joe Biden<\/a>, granted New Jersey\u2019s motion to dismiss and denied the DOJ\u2019s attempt to compel access to the state\u2019s complete voter registration database, including voters\u2019 driver\u2019s license numbers and the last four digits of their Social Security numbers.<\/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\/4668504\/doj-setback-new-jersey-voter-roll-lawsuit\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>DOJ suffers setback in New Jersey voter roll lawsuit despite illegal registrants scandal<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/technology\/4668601\/xai-lawsuit-minnesota-ai-nudification-law\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>Musk\u2019s xAI sues Minnesota over nation\u2019s first AI \u2018nudification\u2019 law<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/justice\/4668307\/james-uthmeier-investigation-anthony-fauci-covid-19\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>Florida attorney general announces investigation into Fauci regarding COVID-19 claims<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">Zahid Quraishi, nominated by U.S. President Joe Biden to be a U.S. District Judge for the District of New Jersey, is sworn in during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on pending judicial nominations, Wednesday, April 28, 2021 on Capitol Hill in Washington.  (Kevin Lamarque\/Pool via AP)<\/p>\n<p>&#8221; data-large-file=&#8221;https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/\/2026\/07\/localimages\/AP21118638596483.jpg?w=696&#8243; &#8220;https:><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Zahid Quraishi, nominated by U.S. President Joe Biden to be a U.S. District Judge for the District of New Jersey, is sworn in during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on pending judicial nominations, Wednesday, April 28, 2021 on Capitol Hill in Washington.  (Kevin Lamarque\/Pool via AP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The ruling leaves the DOJ with a losing record in district court cases seeking such data, in addition to an earlier appellate loss. The department said it would appeal immediately following the ruling.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wex-inarticle-ad wex-inarticle-ad-art-dsk-inart-1\">\n<div class=\"wex-ad-wrap wex-ad-art-dsk-inart-1\" style=\"min-height:90px\"><span class=\"wex-ad-label\" hidden>Advertisement<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-3182201-15\" data-wex-ad=\"art-dsk-inart-1\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThis Court \u2026 joins at least sixteen other district courts including a sister court \u2014 and one circuit \u2014 in dismissing Plaintiff\u2019s claim,\u201d Quraishi wrote in a <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/storage.courtlistener.com\/recap\/gov.uscourts.njd.592512\/gov.uscourts.njd.592512.107.0_1.pdf\">17-page decision<\/a>. The judge decided the matter without oral argument.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The decision came just days after Gov. <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/mikie-sherrill\/\">Mikie Sherrill<\/a> (D-NJ) disclosed that a Motor Vehicle Commission software failure caused roughly 6,600 noncitizens to be added to New Jersey\u2019s voter rolls between June 2023 and June 2024. About 400 of those people cast ballots in at least one subsequent election.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The revelation gave the DOJ fresh evidence of a serious breakdown in the state\u2019s voter registration system. Yet Quraishi ruled that the registration error had \u201cno bearing\u201d on whether the DOJ could legally force New Jersey to surrender its live, unredacted voter database.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wex-inarticle-ad wex-inarticle-ad-art-dsk-inart-2\">\n<div class=\"wex-ad-wrap wex-ad-art-dsk-inart-2\" style=\"min-height:90px\"><span class=\"wex-ad-label\" hidden>Advertisement<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-3182201-16\" data-wex-ad=\"art-dsk-inart-2\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The DOJ first requested New Jersey\u2019s full voter list in July last year as part of a broader effort to scrutinize election records nationwide. State officials provided a version of the rolls but withheld sensitive personal information, citing privacy concerns.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">After months of negotiations, the DOJ sued in February under Title III of the Civil Rights Act of 1960. Assistant Attorney General <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/harmeet-dhillon\/\">Harmeet Dhillon<\/a>, who leads the department\u2019s Civil Rights Division, said at the time that state election officials were choosing to fight the federal government \u201crather than show their work.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Quraishi wrote that Title III applies only to records that \u201ccome into\u201d election officials\u2019 \u201cpossession,\u201d not to \u201cNew Jersey\u2019s computerized [voter registration list] \u2014 a document the State itself created.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"wex-inarticle-ad wex-inarticle-ad-art-dsk-inart-3\">\n<div class=\"wex-ad-wrap wex-ad-art-dsk-inart-3\" style=\"min-height:90px\"><span class=\"wex-ad-label\" hidden>Advertisement<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-3182201-17\" data-wex-ad=\"art-dsk-inart-3\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He said the DOJ\u2019s position was \u201cuntenable\u201d because the law requires covered records to be preserved without alteration, while other federal election laws require states to \u201ccontinually\u201d update their computerized voter lists. \u201cSimply stated, this creates a conflict,\u201d Quraishi wrote.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The ruling is another setback for the Trump administration\u2019s effort to <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >enforce federal voter list maintenance requirements<\/a> under laws such as the National Voter Registration Act and the Help America Vote Act.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Marc Elias, the former lawyer for former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton\u2019s 2016 presidential campaign, said in a statement, \u201cI\u2019m still not tired of winning.\u201d The Elias Law Group represents defendant-intervenors in the case.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wex-inarticle-ad wex-inarticle-ad-art-dsk-inart-4\">\n<div class=\"wex-ad-wrap wex-ad-art-dsk-inart-4\" style=\"min-height:90px\"><span class=\"wex-ad-label\" hidden>Advertisement<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-3182201-25\" data-wex-ad=\"art-dsk-inart-4\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/state\/4666077\/new-jersey-keeps-contracts-vendor-gov-sherrill-blames-voter-registration-error\/\">NEW JERSEY KEEPS TWO CONTRACTS WITH VENDOR THAT GOV. SHERRILL BLAMES FOR VOTER REGISTRATION ERROR<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The litigation will continue despite the dismissal. The DOJ has opened a separate review into the 6,600 improper registrations and demanded identifying information about the affected registrants, including details about those who voted. Sherrill rejected that request Tuesday, calling it unsupported by law.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A DOJ spokesperson told the <em>Washington Examiner<\/em>, \u201cWe disagree with the court\u2019s decision and will appeal.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"wex-inarticle-ad wex-inarticle-ad-art-dsk-inart-5\">\n<div class=\"wex-ad-wrap wex-ad-art-dsk-inart-5\" style=\"min-height:90px\"><span class=\"wex-ad-label\" hidden>Advertisement<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-3182201-26\" data-wex-ad=\"art-dsk-inart-5\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Justice Dept. loses 18th case seeking unredacted voter data<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2633,"featured_media":2637496,"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\/07\/AP21118652527738.jpg?w=696","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[7076,32360,59461,83417,32643],"class_list":["post-2637495","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-doj","tag-election-fraud","tag-legal-setback","tag-nj-lawsuit","tag-voter-rolls"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/AP21118652527738.jpg?w=696","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2637495","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\/2633"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2637495"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2637495\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2637499,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2637495\/revisions\/2637499"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2637496"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2637495"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2637495"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2637495"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}