Judge appointed by Trump slams door on DOJ as court losses pile up days ahead of midterms
Utah voter records sought
The Justice Department sued Henderson, Utah’s top election official, seeking to compel her to turn over a complete list of state voters. The requested information included names, birth dates and addresses, along with driver’s license numbers or the final four digits of Social Security numbers.
Federal lawyers argued that the Civil Rights Act of 1960 required her to make certain voting records available for federal inspection. The case concerned a broad voter-registration dataset maintained by the state.
Barlow rejects DOJ argument
Barlow dismissed the lawsuit on Friday. He relied on a Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling about whether a person can be said to have come into possession of records that the person created and maintained.
The DOJ argued that the law’s purpose was to help enforce federal election laws, and that this supported access to statewide voter-registration databases. Barlow rejected that reasoning, saying judges could not put broad claims about statutory purpose above Congress’s chosen words.
Separate ballot case pending
A three-judge federal appeals panel also questioned the Trump administration’s emergency request to set aside roughly 20,000 California mail ballots linked to suspected noncitizens. The ballots are connected to the midterm elections.
The panel’s ruling was expected as soon as possible. The report also describes Barlow’s dismissal as another administration loss in efforts to address alleged illegal voting.
Key points
- Judge David Barlow dismissed the DOJ’s suit seeking Utah voter data from Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson.
- The DOJ sought voter names, birth dates, addresses and identifying numbers.
- Barlow said the Civil Rights Act did not require Henderson to hand over the database.
- A federal appeals panel questioned a separate request involving roughly 20,000 California mail ballots.