Federal Judge Tosses DOJ Bid For Detailed Maryland Voter Records
On Thursday, June 18, 2026, U.S. District Judge Stephanie Gallagher dismissed the Justice Department's lawsuit seeking Maryland's unredacted voter registration file, blocking DOJ access to detailed voter data.[1]
Gallagher said the unredacted file is not a "record or paper" that a state must turn over to the United States under the Civil Rights Act.[1] Her ruling follows similar decisions in other courts that rejected the DOJ's legal theory.[1] Maryland's statewide voter file covers about 4.3 million registered voters as of June 2026.
In March 2025, President Donald Trump directed Attorney General Pam Bondi to obtain state voter information, and in May 2025 the Justice Department began demanding complete, unredacted voter lists that included birth dates, driver's license numbers and partial Social Security numbers. Many states refused and the DOJ filed lawsuits against 30 states and the District of Columbia beginning in September 2025. Federal judges first dismissed similar suits in California and Oregon in January 2026 and in Michigan in February 2026.
The Maryland decision brings to nine the number of states where judges have rejected the DOJ's requests out of 30 states and D.C. targeted. The ruling also arrives days after a June 22, 2026, federal judge barred the Department of Homeland Security from using an expanded SAVE-based citizenship check for voters, deepening legal setbacks for federal efforts to collect state voter data.
The mainstream summary does not mention the broader implications of the DOJ's repeated failures to obtain voter data, specifically how these legal setbacks reflect a significant pushback against federal overreach in election administration. According to analyses from the Brennan Center for Justice and the State Democracy Research Initiative, the Trump administration's efforts to centralize voter data through executive orders and lawsuits clash with constitutional principles of state control over elections, which courts have interpreted as not permitting such demands under the Civil Rights Act of 1960. This perspective highlights a growing trend where courts reject federal attempts to access sensitive voter information, interpreting these actions as potentially leading to 'absurd results' that undermine necessary state functions in voter registration. [Brennan Center for Justice; State Democracy Research Initiative at University of Wisconsin Law School](https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/tracker-justice-department-requests-voter-information; https://statedemocracy.law.wisc.edu/our-work/tracker-doj-lawsuits-seeking-states-sensitive-voter-data)
Moreover, social media insights reveal that the DOJ's reluctance to explain its data usage, even in court, has raised concerns about transparency and accountability, suggesting that the implications of this ruling extend beyond Maryland. The ruling has been framed as a victory for privacy protections, with users on platforms like BlueSky emphasizing the importance of safeguarding voter data against federal encroachment. This context underscores a significant erosion of trust in federal election oversight efforts, as many perceive these actions as attempts to bypass state authority and privacy laws. @MDCounties and @DemocracyDocket both highlight the ruling as a win for local governance and voter privacy.
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📊 Relevant Data
Maryland maintains a statewide voter registration file covering approximately 4.3 million registered voters.
MD Voter Data: Registration by Party, Turnout & Primary ... — Independent Voter Project
📌 Key Facts
- On Thursday, June 18, 2026, U.S. District Judge Stephanie Gallagher dismissed the Justice Department’s lawsuit seeking Maryland’s unredacted voter registration file.
- Gallagher held that the unredacted file is not a “record or paper” a state must turn over to the United States under the Civil Rights Act, joining every other court to address similar DOJ requests.
- The Maryland decision brings to nine the number of states where judges have rejected DOJ suits for detailed voter data, out of 30 states and D.C. that have been targeted.
- In a related development on Monday, June 22, 2026, a federal judge ruled DHS’s expanded SAVE-based voter citizenship check program unlawful and barred its further use.
📰 Source Timeline (1)
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