A federal appeals court has rejected former President Donald Trump's bid to compel states to hand over detailed voter registration data, marking the latest legal defeat in his long-running effort to obtain a national voter list. The ruling by the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit upheld lower court decisions that blocked Trump's demands, which were part of the now-defunct Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity.
State election officials had resisted the commission's requests, arguing that the sweeping data requests were unnecessary and could be misused. In court filings, officials expressed concern that the measures were «prone to abuse and could lead to widespread chaos» in election administration. The appeals court agreed that the commission lacked the authority to force states to comply, siding with arguments that the requests infringed on states' rights to manage their own elections and protect voter privacy.
The case dates back to 2017, when Trump created the commission by executive order, claiming widespread voter fraud in the 2016 election. The commission requested states to provide names, addresses, dates of birth, party affiliations, and the last four digits of Social Security numbers for all registered voters. Most states refused, citing privacy laws and the lack of evidence for Trump's fraud allegations. The commission was disbanded in early 2018 after facing multiple lawsuits and criticism, but Trump continued to pursue the data through legal channels.
This is not the first setback for Trump in this matter. Lower courts had already ruled against his administration, and the appeals court's decision now solidifies those findings. Legal experts note that the ruling reinforces the principle that states have broad discretion over their voter rolls and that federal attempts to obtain such data must be grounded in clear statutory authority.
State election officials welcomed the decision. Many had warned that complying with the data request would undermine public confidence in elections and deter voter participation. «This ruling protects the integrity of our electoral process and ensures that voter information remains secure,» a spokesperson for one of the defendant states said in a statement following the court's decision.
The outcome has broader implications for future federal efforts to access state voter data. While Trump's commission no longer exists, the legal precedent set by the appeals court could make it more difficult for any administration to demand sweeping voter information without explicit congressional authorization. The case is one of several legal battles Trump has faced over election-related matters, including challenges to the 2020 election results and ongoing investigations into his attempts to overturn those results.
