A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit filed by the Justice Department seeking a full, unredacted copy of the District of Columbia's voter registration data.

The suit was dismissed Thursday in a  23-page ruling by U.S. District Court Judge Randolph D. Moss. He rejected the agency's attempt to use a 1960s-era civil rights law as part of what he called an “unprecedented effort to collect sensitive information about voters,” according to the news outlet NOTUS. 

The department about a year ago requested full copies of voter-registration lists – including voters’ full names, dates of birth, addresses and either driver’s license numbers or the last four digits of their Social Security numbers – for the district and almost every state in the country.

The department said the request was part of a larger effort to ensure that states were properly maintaining their voter rolls and removing ineligible voters.

D.C. election officials turned over only a limited voter list, arguing that privacy laws precluded them from producing personally identifiable information like driver’s license or Social Security numbers.

In December 2025, the DOJ sued D.C. and 30 states for declining to turn over the full, requested information, NOTUS also reports.

Twenty-one judges have thus far ruled against the requests.