US Court Blocks Trump Administration’s Access to NJ Voter Data

By Staff, Agencies

A federal judge has blocked the US Department of Justice’s effort to obtain New Jersey’s unredacted voter registration records, allowing the state to continue withholding personally identifiable voter information from federal authorities.

The ruling by District Judge Zahid Quraishi came amid a wider dispute between the Trump administration and Democratic Governor Mikie Sherrill over New Jersey’s voter rolls, though the legal cases remain separate.

The DOJ filed its lawsuit after requesting a full copy of New Jersey’s voter database in July 2025 as part of a nationwide effort to collect election records. The state provided the data but removed sensitive details, including driver’s license numbers and the final four digits of Social Security numbers, citing privacy concerns.

The dispute continued for months before the DOJ sued in February to force the release of the withheld information. The case was among dozens of similar legal actions brought by the Trump administration against election officials across the country.

However, Judge Quraishi ruled that the DOJ lacked the authority to compel New Jersey to provide the unredacted records, noting that courts in numerous other states had reached similar conclusions.

New Jersey officials welcomed the decision, with Attorney General Jennifer Davenport saying courts had consistently rejected what she described as federal overreach. The DOJ, however, said it disagreed with the ruling and would appeal.

Meanwhile, New Jersey’s voter rolls drew national attention after Governor Sherrill revealed that a state error had mistakenly added 6,600 noncitizens to voter registration lists between 2023 and 2024. Around 400 of those individuals were reported to have cast ballots in at least one election.

The Trump administration cited the incident as evidence of voter fraud concerns, while a separate legal dispute continues over demands for access to New Jersey voter registration data. A different federal judge recently rejected a Republican National Committee effort to obtain the state’s voter records.