SANTA ANA, Calif. — A federal judge has dismissed a U.S. Department of Justice lawsuit seeking to compel California to turn over its full, unredacted statewide voter registration list, rejecting what voting rights groups described as an unlawful attempt to obtain voters’ sensitive personal information.
The ruling in United States v. Weber rebuffs the DOJ’s effort to force the state to disclose confidential voter data and follows intervention by the League of Women Voters of California and the American Civil Liberties Union, according to a statement released by the organizations.
The League of Women Voters of California, represented by the ACLU, the ACLU Foundation of Northern California and the ACLU Foundation of Southern California, argued that both state and federal privacy laws prohibit the disclosure of highly sensitive voter information. The organizations said the court agreed, dismissing the DOJ’s claims.
According to the groups, the lawsuit was part of a broader federal effort to obtain similar voter information from jurisdictions across the country. They contended that releasing unredacted voter files would compromise voter privacy and undermine the integrity of the democratic process.
In a joint statement responding to the ruling, the organizations said, “The court has recognized the fundamental importance of protecting voters’ sensitive personal information and dismissed this illegal federal overreach.” The statement added that voters “should never have to choose between their privacy and their fundamental right to vote.”
The organizations further asserted that states must retain the authority to manage elections in ways that safeguard sensitive information, while federal agencies must respect the limits of their power. “Today’s ruling affirms that the federal government is not entitled to unfettered access to private voter data,” the statement said.
According to the ACLU and the League of Women Voters of California, the DOJ filed the lawsuit in September 2025 against California Secretary of State Shirley Weber, seeking access to the state’s voter registration database. The requested data included voters’ full names, residential addresses, dates of birth, driver’s license numbers and the last four digits of Social Security numbers, the organizations said.
California declined to provide the unredacted information, citing state privacy protections, and instead offered redacted versions of the voter file, according to the statement. The ACLU and the League of Women Voters of California said they moved to intervene in the case to defend voter privacy and challenge the DOJ’s legal claims regarding federal authority over state-managed election data.
The organizations said the court’s dismissal of the lawsuit affirms existing privacy protections and limits on federal access to sensitive voter information. A copy of the court’s order was made publicly available by the ACLU.
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