Story perspectives

DOJ Loses 0-21 Voter-Roll Cases, DHS Threatens Funds

8/8/2026

Summary

Story summary

On August 6, 2026 Judge Randolph Moss dismissed the Justice Department’s lawsuit for Washington, D.C.’s unredacted voter rolls, marking the department’s 0-21 record in voter-roll lawsuits.
The DOJ’s district-court record is now 0-18 with nine cases pending and 16 appeals after defeats in states including Delaware, Georgia, Hawaii, Nevada, Utah, Minnesota, Idaho and Vermont.
A Sixth Circuit three-judge panel upheld the dismissal of the DOJ’s Michigan suit on June 24, 2026, delivering the department’s first appellate loss.
Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon sent letters to election officials in all 50 states warning of criminal charges for knowingly retaining non-citizen voters.
The Department of Homeland Security threatened to withhold disaster-relief funds from states that do not use the SAVE immigration database after a July 17 finding of over 250,000 potential non-citizen registrations in four states.

History

Historical Context

The 1993 National Voter Registration Act set nationwide standards for maintaining voter rolls, prompting states such as Ohio to adopt “use-it-or-lose-it” purges beginning in 1994. Subsequent challenges—Florida’s 2000 purge of about 1,100 voters and Georgia’s 2008 removal of over 98,000 registrants—show how the act’s cleanup mandate has fueled litigation that continues after the 2013 Shelby County v. Holder decision.

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Story summary

On August 6, 2026 Judge Randolph Moss dismissed the Justice Department’s lawsuit for Washington, D.C.’s unredacted voter rolls, marking the department’s 0-21 record in voter-roll lawsuits.
The DOJ’s district-court record is now 0-18 with nine cases pending and 16 appeals after defeats in states including Delaware, Georgia, Hawaii, Nevada, Utah, Minnesota, Idaho and Vermont.
A Sixth Circuit three-judge panel upheld the dismissal of the DOJ’s Michigan suit on June 24, 2026, delivering the department’s first appellate loss.
Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon sent letters to election officials in all 50 states warning of criminal charges for knowingly retaining non-citizen voters.
The Department of Homeland Security threatened to withhold disaster-relief funds from states that do not use the SAVE immigration database after a July 17 finding of over 250,000 potential non-citizen registrations in four states.

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