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Federal judge dismisses DOJ suit seeking Georgia voters' personal data

U.S. District Judge Victoria Marie Calvert dismissed the Justice Department's suit seeking Georgia's unredacted voter rolls, ruling the Civil Rights Act does not override the state's voter privacy law.

2 outlets · 1L · 0C · 1R First reported Account updated
Image: Raw Story
Image: Just the News

1 / 2

The story, neutrally told

On Wednesday 30 September 2026, U.S. District Judge Victoria Marie Calvert dismissed the Justice Department's lawsuit against Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger over the state's voter rolls. She granted Raffensperger's motion to dismiss and denied the DOJ's motion to compel him to hand over the records. According to the order as described by Raw Story, the DOJ first asked in July 2025 for the full, unredacted list, saying it wanted to run it through the Department of Homeland Security's SAVE citizenship database.

Raffensperger's office instead provided a version without dates of birth, Social Security numbers and driver's license numbers, citing a state confidentiality law, and the DOJ sued under Title III of the Civil Rights Act of 1960. Calvert wrote that the Civil Rights Act shows no explicit congressional intent to preempt states' voter privacy laws. She also found that Raffensperger's efforts showed it is possible to comply with both Georgia's privacy law and federal laws on voter records.

Georgia law allows some federal agencies to receive confidential voter data, but Calvert found that exception did not apply because the DOJ had not agreed the information would remain confidential. Raffensperger said he had released the public part of the rolls and would not break the law for anyone. Just the News reported that Georgia is the latest loss for the administration in its push for complete voter lists, with cases pending in Delaware, Hawaii, Idaho and Utah.

Every sentence links to the reporting it rests on.

Left1 outlet

Framing
Frames the ruling as a rebuke of the DOJ, with a detailed walk through the order and the DOJ's refusal to promise confidentiality.
Emphasis
Legal reasoning, the timeline of DOJ requests, and the DOJ's refusal to commit to keeping data confidential.
Leaves out or plays down
Does not mention the other pending state cases or Raffensperger's statement.
Charged language
“gambit”“Judge shuts down”
For example
“Judge shuts down Trump DOJ's gambit for private data it refused to keep secret” — Raw Story
“has not agreed that the information would remain confidential” — Raw Story

Centre0 outlets

No centre outlet in our sources has covered this story yet.

Right1 outlet

Framing
Straight news report centred on the ruling and Raffensperger's privacy stance, placed within the administration's wider voter-roll efforts.
Emphasis
Raffensperger's statement, his being the only Republican to decline, and the four remaining pending cases.
Leaves out or plays down
Gives less detail on the DOJ's stated SAVE-database purpose and its refusal to commit to confidentiality.
Charged language
“sensitive”
For example
“Georgia's case is the latest that the Trump administration has lost in its effort to receive complete voting lists.” — Just the News
“Raffensperger, who was the only Republican to decline to produce the full voter rolls” — Just the News