The Department of Justice is suing states for sensitive voter data − an election law scholar explains why federal efforts are facing resistance

The Trump administration's Department of Justice sued 29 states in 2025 for refusing to provide voter registration lists, including sensitive data like Social Security and driver's license numbers, beginning with requests sent in May 2025 to at least 48 states and Washington, D.C. Only 12 states fully complied with the demands; the DOJ cites three federal laws—the National Voter Registration Act of 1993, the Help America Vote Act of 2002, and the Civil Rights Act of 1960—as legal authority to obtain the information, though critics argue none explicitly requires states to disclose sensitive voter data. The Trump administration framed the effort as necessary to identify and remove ineligible voters from the rolls to ensure election integrity. Of the states sued, only Oklahoma has capitulated and handed over voter rolls; the majority of cases remain ongoing in courts across the country, where judges must decide whether federal law grants the DOJ the power to compel states to release this information.