US Justice Department drafts legal opinion backing demands for state voter rolls

Source: Reuters

May 13, 2026 12:54 PM EDT Updated 4 hours ago


May 13 (Reuters) - The Department ​of Justice has issued a formal legal justification for the federal government's demands that states share their ‌unredacted voter rolls, even though half a dozen federal courts have already ruled that states have no obligation to provide those lists.

The May 12 opinion from the DOJ's Office of Legal Counsel - which provides advice to the White House and federal agencies - is not binding on states, ​dozens of which have resisted the Trump administration's demands that they hand over lists including sensitive information such ​as voters' partial social security numbers and driver's license numbers.

But it signals that the Justice Department ⁠does not intend to back down from its push for the data, even after federal judges in California, Oregon, ​Michigan, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Arizona have blocked it from forcing states to share their lists. The department says it needs ​the unredacted lists to oversee states' processes for ensuring that ineligible people, including noncitizens, are not registered to vote.

The opinion comes as President Donald Trump's Republicans are battling to maintain control of both houses of Congress in the November midterm elections. Trump and his allies have falsely ​asserted that his loss in the 2020 presidential election was due to fraud. Trump also frequently states that voting by ​illegal immigrants is rampant, even though state audits and independent studies have shown that the practice is rare.

Read more: https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/us-justice-department-drafts-legal-opinion-backing-demands-state-voter-rolls-2026-05-13/