Federal judge dismisses DOJ lawsuit seeking Kentucky voter data
U.S. District Judge Claria Horn Boom sided with Kentucky election officials Thursday as she dismissed a U.S. Department of Justice lawsuit seeking private voter rolls, which include driver’s license and social security numbers.
It’s part of a broader losing streak for the DOJ, which has sued 30 states and Washington D.C. after they refused to hand over the sensitive voter data. Federal judges across the country have ruled against the lawsuits, saying that federal law doesn’t grant the administration unfettered access to state voter rolls.
In her Thursday opinion, Boom pointed to a recent 6th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling — under whose jurisdiction Kentucky falls — that came to the same conclusion in Michigan. It was the first appellate court to rule against President Donald Trump’s attempt to access private voter registration data; the DOJ has already asked the full appellate court to rehear the case.
