Federal Court Rejects Trump Administration's Bid for Illinois Voter Data

The U.S. Department of Justice under the Trump administration has suffered another setback in its efforts to obtain comprehensive voter registration data from states across the country. This week, a federal court ruled that Illinois does not have to turn over sensitive voting information requested by the DOJ. The decision marks the 16th loss for the Trump administration in similar lawsuits filed against various states.

In December 2025, the Justice Department sued the state of Illinois and its Secretary of State Bernadette Matthews, alleging violations of federal laws including the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA), the Help America Vote Act (HAVA), and the Civil Rights Act (CRA) of 1960. The lawsuit sought to compel the release of detailed voter registration data that the DOJ claimed was necessary for enforcing voting rights protections.

However, U.S. District Judge Colleen Lawless dismissed the case in a 14-page opinion released on Friday. In her ruling, Judge Lawless stated that Title III of the Civil Rights Act does not grant the Attorney General authority to demand unredacted voter registration lists from states. The court found that the DOJ's interpretation of the statute was flawed and did not align with its ordinary meaning.

The judge emphasized that the phrase "come into possession" in the relevant statutes refers only to records obtained from external sources, rather than those created internally by state election officials. This distinction is crucial because Illinois' voter registration lists are compiled by the state itself, thus falling outside the scope of what federal law mandates for disclosure under Title III.

Moreover, Judge Lawless criticized the DOJ's written demand as insufficiently justified and lacking a legitimate purpose. She noted that if Congress had intended to grant such broad authority to the Attorney General, it would have done so explicitly in the legislation.

This ruling is part of a broader pattern of legal defeats for the Trump administration's aggressive pursuit of state-level voter data. The DOJ has filed 30 lawsuits nationwide since being rebuffed by multiple states initially. With this latest decision, the tally of losses stands at 16, while results from other pending cases remain uncertain.

Voting rights advocates celebrated the court’s decision as a significant victory against what they view as overreach by federal authorities. Ethan Herenstein, a staff attorney with the ACLU's Voting Rights Project, stated in a press release that "the ruling underscores the limits of federal power and rejects attempts to manufacture a voter fraud crisis."

The ongoing legal battles reflect deepening divisions between state governments and the federal executive branch over issues related to voting rights enforcement and data privacy. As these cases continue to unfold across different jurisdictions, they are likely to set important precedents regarding the balance of powers in election oversight and voter registration management.