Utah judge blocks DOJ access to voter data

A federal judge ruled on Friday that the Department of Justice cannot force Utah to hand over its statewide voter database, adding to a string of recent legal setbacks for the administration's election enforcement efforts.

District Judge David Barlow dismissed the case against Utah Lieutenant Governor Deidre Henderson. The Justice Department sought to compel Henderson, the state's top election official, to provide a complete list of Utah voters. The request included names, birthdays, addresses, driver's license numbers, and the last four digits of Social Security numbers.

This ruling marks one of more than 25 losses in voter-roll litigation that the administration has faced since launching its campaign against alleged illegal voting. A DOJ spokeswoman told Fox News Digital that the department plans to appeal the decision. She noted that the only appellate court to review the issue so far, the Sixth Circuit, split largely on partisan grounds regarding denial of en banc review.

Federal lawyers originally argued that the Civil Rights Act of 1960 requires Henderson to make voting records available for federal inspection if they come into her possession. Barlow rejected this interpretation, citing a Sixth Circuit precedent. That precedent stated that an ordinary speaker would not say a person comes into possession of something they created, established, and maintained themselves.

The Justice Department countered that the law's purpose as an enforcement tool meant it should cover statewide voter-registration databases used for list maintenance. Barlow disagreed, stating that judges have no warrant to elevate vague invocations of statutory purpose over the words Congress chose. He dismissed the complaint with prejudice, meaning the DOJ cannot refile the same claim but can appeal to a higher court.

Barlow, whom Trump tapped for the federal bench in 2019, previously worked as a Republican congressional lawyer, a federal prosecutor, and a private attorney. Henderson praised the ruling on Threads, writing that her office will continue to uphold the rule of law and safeguard the right to free, fair, and secure elections for Utah residents.

The administration has charged several individuals with illegal voting but has not yet uncovered evidence of widespread fraud. The DOJ has three pending voter-roll cases in Hawaii, Idaho, and Delaware. It is also appealing losses in California and Oregon. The White House did not respond to a request for comment on Monday.