Tracking the DOJ's effort to get U.S. voter registration data

The Justice Department is seeking voter registration list data from all 50 states and the District of Columbia over the past year.

The Justice Department is seeking voter registration list data from all 50 states and the District of Columbia as part of what they consider to be their responsibility to “ensure that states have proper and effective voter registration and voter list maintenance programs.”

While many states have complied with the requests, the department has filed lawsuits against 30 states and Washington, D.C., for refusing.

The Justice Department has said it must comply with the president’s March 2025 executive order, which requires the attorney general to “ensure compliance” with voter registration laws, and to “take appropriate action with respect to states that fail to comply” with voter laws.

The requests were unusual. The Justice Department has asked for information from states on elections before, but not voter registration databases from so many states.

States run their own elections and maintain their own voter data. There is no national database of voters, and the federal government does not oversee U.S. elections.