Michigan Again Wins Ruling on Giving Voter Information to DOJ
A federal appeals court ruled that the US Justice Department cannot force Michigan to turn over sensitive voter registration data, including partial Social Security numbers. The court determined that existing civil rights laws do not grant the federal government the authority to demand such confidential information.
Why it matters
The ruling sets a legal precedent regarding the balance between federal oversight of elections and state-level control over voter privacy.
A federal appeals court on Wednesday rejected the Justice Department's attempt to obtain Michigan's full voter registration list, which includes birth dates, driver's license numbers, and partial Social Security numbers for everyone on it. In a 2-1 decision, the 6th US Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that a 1960 civil rights law doesn't give the federal government the authority to demand that kind of confidential data. In a defeat for the Trump administration, Judge Andre Mathis wrote that the law was designed to protect access to the ballot, not to police whether "some people have not voted," CBS News reports.
The article reports on a legal ruling, citing both the court's reasoning and the context of the ongoing legal disputes.
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