Federal judge dismisses DOJ lawsuit seeking Arizona voter registration data

PHOENIX – A federal judge has dismissed the U.S. Department of Justice’s lawsuit seeking to force Arizona to hand over its complete voter registration database, marking the latest defeat for the Trump administration’s nationwide effort to collect voter rolls from states.

U.S. District Judge Susan Brnovich issued the ruling Tuesday, dismissing the case with prejudice, meaning the Justice Department cannot refile the same lawsuit.

The lawsuit, filed in January, sought to force Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes to turn over an unredacted copy of the state’s voter registration database, including sensitive personal information for nearly 5 million registered voters.

In her opinion, Brnovich said that the case raised a legal question, not a political one.

“Much of the briefing conflates these distinct inquiries, offering policy arguments in place of legal analysis,” she wrote. “While such arguments may carry political weight, they are irrelevant to the Court’s limited task.”

The simple version of what the case was about

The Justice Department argued that a single line in the 1960 Civil Rights Act required Arizona to hand over its voter list.

That law says states must let the federal government inspect “records” tied to voter registration.

In her motion to dismiss, Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes, representing Fontes, argued the Justice Department’s request was too broad.

Brnovich agreed, saying the DOJ argument stretched the law too far.

Registration forms that voters fill out and submit are records, she said.

But a statewide voter database, something the state builds by compiling that information, is different than a record. The law covers the first, not the second.

In her ruling, Brnovich pointed to a recent decision from a Michigan federal court that found voter registration lists are “created by state officials” rather than documents “that people submit to the State as part of the voter registration process.”

She also rejected the Justice Department’s claim that the law should be read broadly because it deals with elections.

“There is no canon of statutory construction which requires this Court to construe Title III broadly merely because it pertains to election records,” she wrote. “More importantly, the Court will not superimpose an expansive definition where Title III, by its plain text, does not tolerate such a definition.”

In other words, judges do not get to expand a law’s meaning just because the subject seems important.

The ruling comes amid a broader legal battle

The U.S. attorney general has sued 29 states and the District of Columbia for production of their voter registration lists.

Five courts have already dismissed similar Justice Department lawsuits in California, Oregon, Michigan, Massachusetts and Rhode Island.

In a similar case in Minnesota, the Justice Department tied its demand for voter rolls to immigration enforcement, asking the state to allow the Civil Rights Division to access voter rolls.

Brnovich dismissed the case without giving the DOJ a chance to edit their complaint, finding that “amendment would be legally futile.”

The Justice Department could appeal the ruling.

KTAR News 92.3 FM reached out to the DOJ’s lawyers for comment but did not hear back by publication.

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