Full Breakdown
Sixth Circuit Blocks DOJ Demand for Michigan Voter Rolls
6/25/2026, 7:43:30 AM
Legal Context and the 1960 Civil Rights Act
Title III of the 1960 Civil Rights Act lets Attorney General demand records that “come into” an election official’s possession, a provision intended to combat racial discrimination through voter-registration documents.
The Decision and the Judges
In a 2-1 ruling on June 24, 2026, Sixth Circuit held Michigan’s qualified voter file is not covered by Title III. Judge Andre Mathis (Biden appointee) wrote the majority, joined by Judge R. Guy Cole Jr. (Clinton appointee); Judge John B. Nalbandian (Trump appointee) dissented.
DOJ’s Request and State Responses
The Justice Department requested names, birth dates, partial Social Security numbers and driver’s-license numbers for all Michigan voters, saying the data were needed to enforce the Help America Vote Act and the National Voter Registration Act and to identify non-citizen voters. Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson provided only the public version of the file. The DOJ sued 30 states and D.C.; 17 Republican-led states voluntarily provided the data, while Michigan and dozens of others refused on privacy grounds. A district court had already dismissed the suit.
Official Positions
The DOJ said unredacted rolls were needed for list-maintenance compliance and to purge ineligible voters. The majority rejected that, noting the agency failed to state the statutory ‘basis and purpose’ required by Title III. In dissent, Judge Nalbandian argued the DOJ had a valid basis under HAVA and the NVRA.
Concerns from Voting-Rights Advocates
Voting-rights groups warned that comparing state rolls with a Department of Homeland Security citizenship database could disenfranchise naturalized citizens, because the system often produces false positives and relies on outdated information.
Conflicting Interpretations & Gaps
The DOJ’s Office of Legal Counsel issued a memo to support its reading of Title III; the court dismissed it as ‘novel and incorrect.’ The department has not commented on the appellate ruling.
Verbatim Quotes
- “power to ensure that everyone who had the right to vote could freely exercise that right. But today, the government invokes Title III for an inverse purpose — to ensure that some people have not voted.” — Judge Andre Mathis
- “An ordinary English speaker would not say that she has come into possession of something that she created, established, and maintained,” — Judge Andre Mathis
- “We should not adopt a reading that would place election officials in violation of one federal law for trying to comply with others,” — Judge Andre Mathis
- “Because the government did not comply with its mandatory statutory obligation to submit a demand to Benson containing a statement of both the basis and purpose of its request, Benson did not violate Title III by refusing to produce the unredacted qualified voter file,” — Judge Andre Mathis
Next Steps
The DOJ may petition the Supreme Court; appeals continue in the Ninth, Eleventh and D.C. Circuits, and the ruling will shape the 2026 midterm election landscape.
