Voting Rights Groups Win Order Against DOJ Over Voter Privacy

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ATLANTA — The Southern Poverty Law Center, the American Civil Liberties Union National Voting Rights Project, and the ACLU of Georgia effectively blocked the Department of Justice from obtaining Georgia voters’ personal data. In December 2025, the three voting rights organizations moved to intervene on behalf of Common Cause and Rosario Palacios in United States v. Raffensperger. The court granted Georgia’s motion to dismiss the United States’ case and, in doing so, agreed with our arguments that the federal government was improperly trying to obtain Georgia voters’ private information.

“The court recognized what we have been saying all along: Georgians must be able to trust the electoral system and feel safe that their personal information is protected from misuse by the federal government, their privacy is respected, and their right to participate in the process is upheld,” said Bradley Heard, deputy legal director, SPLC. “Protecting voters’ rights and safeguarding their personal information remain the SPLC’s highest priorities. We are committed to ensuring that every eligible voter can participate freely and without fear of intimidation.”

“Every voter deserves to know their personal information is secure, protected, and used only for its intended purpose of maintaining accurate voter registration records,” said Maryam Jazini Dorcheh, vice president of litigation at Common Cause. “Common Cause will continue to lead the fight to ensure our freedom to privacy is upheld nationwide and to stand up against the DOJ’s efforts to take over election administration.”

This ruling could have a significant impact on the 2026 midterm elections, as the court upheld that the DOJ will not be able to compel access to Georgia’s unredacted voter rolls. This ensures that sensitive personal information — including a voter’s full date of birth, driver’s license number, and Social Security number — remains private as per Georgia law and is not disclosed beyond what the law allows.

“At a time when so much is being done to make people question whether they can trust our elections, protecting voters’ privacy and following the law is paramount,” said María del Rosario Palacios, a Georgia voter and individual intervenor. “Georgians have fought this fight before. We should be able to vote without worrying that our private information will be misused or handed over to a rogue federal government, and now we can continue to do just that.”

As a naturalized U.S. citizen, Palacios had an interest in this case because her status placed her at a heightened risk of being targeted for voter disenfranchisement, a threat that extends to countless other Georgia voters.

“Voters should never have to choose between participating in our democracy and protecting their most personal information,” said Will Hughes, staff attorney for the ACLU’s Voting Rights Project. “Federal officials do not get to ignore the law and seize sensitive voter data — no matter how they plan to use it — and we will continue to challenge federal overreach that threatens voters’ privacy and state authority over elections.”

Ultimately, the court found that the federal law under which DOJ sought the records did not preempt or conflict with Georgia’s voter privacy law, which prohibits the disclosure of highly sensitive information contained in the voter registration database.

“We’re pleased the court recognized that the federal government cannot invent legal authority to demand Georgians’ private voter information from state officials,” said Akiva Freidlin, senior staff attorney, ACLU of Georgia. “This was another failed attempt by the Trump administration to interfere with Georgia’s elections, and we’ll continue to fight those attempts as they come.”

Click here to read the opinion.