Federal judge tosses Trump administration lawsuit seeking full access to Illinois voter rolls
A downstate federal judge has rejected an effort by President Donald Trump’s administration to obtain full access to Illinois’ voter registration database, including sensitive personal data on more than 8 million residents statewide.
The Justice Department’s request for the voter rolls “to ascertain Illinois’s compliance” with federal law isn’t a legitimate reason for demanding the vast trove of data, “as it does not relate to any suspected violation of voting,” Judge Colleen Lawless wrote in a 14-page opinion issued Friday.
The decision from Illinois’ Central District court in Springfield marked the 19th ruling nationwide against lawsuits filed by the Trump DOJ over the past year in what it has called an effort to ensure election integrity.
Trump has long falsely claimed rampant voter fraud led to his 2020 election loss to former President Joe Biden, though cases of fraud have proven exceedingly rare anywhere in the country.
“If the Attorney General could simply justify his demand with a statement of any purpose whatsoever, the requirement that he specify his purpose (and his basis) would be pointless and it would provide him with unfettered authority to demand voting records,” Lawless wrote.
Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul said the ruling underscores the fact “voters can remain confident that our elections are fair and secure.”
“The Trump administration’s demand for Illinois’ unredacted voter registration list is part of the president’s ongoing efforts to undermine and sow doubt in U.S. elections,” Raoul said in a statement. “But in Illinois, we are focused on ensuring voters’ access to the ballot box while protecting their personal information.
“The Constitution is clear: States have authority to administer and regulate elections,” Raoul continued. “Courts have consistently ruled that the Department of Justice’s attempts to commandeer unredacted voter registration lists are unlawful.”
DOJ officials couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.
The Trump administration requested Illinois’ full voter database last July, and the Illinois State Board of Elections provided voters’ names, addresses and ages at registration — but not dates of birth, ID numbers or social security numbers, as limited by state law.
That prompted the DOJ to sue “to protect American citizens from vote dilution,” but local election authorities are responsible for most of that information, and handing it over would violate federal privacy law, too, Illinois officials argued.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois hailed the decision, and Ami Gandhi, director of the Midwest Voting Rights Program with Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights, called it “a critical victory for the privacy rights of every Illinois voter.”
“The federal government’s attempt to seize sensitive personal records was an unprecedented overreach designed to intimidate voters and fuel false narratives about our election systems,” Gandhi said in a statement. “By rejecting this demand, the court has sent a clear message that our democratic process will not be weaponized to harass or suppress Illinois voters, particularly naturalized citizens and people returning home from incarceration who are disproportionately targeted by these efforts.”