The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on Wednesday that Michigan is not required to share personal details of registered voters. This includes birth dates, driver’s license numbers, and partial Social Security numbers. The court’s 2-1 decision supports a federal judge’s earlier ruling in Lansing, Michigan.
The Trump administration had sought key voter information from multiple states, aiming to verify compliance with federal election laws. However, Michigan officials, led by Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, stated that only the general list of registered voters could be shared, akin to what any citizen could access.
Similar court outcomes occurred in Maryland, Arizona, California, Maine, Massachusetts, Oregon, Rhode Island, and Wisconsin. In Georgia, a case was dismissed due to jurisdictional issues, necessitating a refiling.
The Justice Department referenced ‘anomalies’ in its court filing as justification for requesting personal voter details. Nevertheless, Michigan attorneys argued that the federal government had broader intentions, such as creating a national voter database and checking for potential voter fraud by noncitizens through collaboration with the Department of Homeland Security.
A report by the Brennan Center for Justice and the Associated Press noted that at least 13 states have provided or agreed to share voter registration data with the federal government. These states include Alaska, Arkansas, Indiana, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, and Wyoming.