The Trump administration signaled Thursday that it plans to challenge an appeals court decision that Michigan and other states do not have to share confidential information in voter rolls with the federal government. That was as a federal judge in Massachusetts ruled in a separate case that the U.S. Postal Service cannot refuse to deliver mail-in ballots to addresses not on a federal list of approved voters.
The Wednesday decision from the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals held that the U.S. Civil Rights Act of 1960 does not authorize the government to demand private voter information from the state. Michigan is the lead plaintiff in the case.
Democratic Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson said there is no legitimate reason to share unredacted voter records that include birthdates, driver’s license numbers and partial Social Security numbers with the federal government.
"The law cannot be any clearer – states run elections, the federal government is not entitled to Michigan voters’ personal data, and the president cannot change election law with the stroke of a pen," said Benson in a statement.
The Sixth Circuit is the highest court yet to uphold a state’s right to refuse to comply with the presidential executive order.
While not sharing specific plans, a White House spokesperson said the appeals court ruling will not be the final word in the case.
“President Trump is committed to ensuring that Americans have full confidence in the administration of our elections,” said White House Deputy Press Secretary Abigail Jackson in an email to Michigan Public Radio. “The President’s executive order lawfully protects our elections, and we are confident that we will ultimately prevail in its implementation.”
The Trump administration wants the voter rolls including the non-public records to help the U.S. Department of Homeland Security check voters’ citizenship status.
Deputy Michigan Secretary of State Aghogho Edevbie said the state checks citizenship status when people are registered as they get their driver’s license or local clerks do that if they register a voter. Edevbie said the state also does regular audits of voter rolls to cull registrations of dead, dormant, or ineligible voters.
He said the audit in 2024 found citizenship issues with 16 people out of 5.7 million voters. The cases were referred to the Michigan Attorney General.
“So, the system really does secure people’s citizenship and on top of that, after every election cycle we do go back and do audits to give the people and our department that reassurance that we did not have non-citizens voting in our elections,” he said.
