DOJ Appeals Dismissal of Voter Data Lawsuit

Judge Leo T. Sorokin ruled on April 9 that the Justice Department's demand letters to Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth William Galvin offered no basis for requesting unredacted state voting records.

Juliette Fairley

Published: 6/2/2026, 4:55:46 PM EDT

DOJ Appeals Dismissal of Voter Data Lawsuit — The U.S. Department of Justice in Washington on April 27, 2026. (Madalina Kilroy/The Epoch Times)

The Department of Justice (DOJ) is appealing an election law enforcement dismissal that was based on procedural oversight.

United States v. Galvin was dismissed on April 9 by Judge Leo Sorokin, who ruled the Justice Department's demand letters to Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth William Galvin offered no basis for requesting unredacted state voting records.

“Because the Court concludes that the Attorney General’s letter failed to “contain a statement of the basis” for the demand as required by law, the Court need not reach the parties’ other arguments,” Sorokin wrote. “The Court’s analysis starts and ends with the text of Title III.”

Title III of the Civil Rights Act of 1960 (CRA) requires that a written demand include both the purpose and the basis when the U.S. Attorney General requires voting records from a state.

The U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts found that the DOJ didn't allege voting anomalies, state that they suspected non-compliance, or mention complaints as a basis for requesting the documents.

“Put simply, the statute requires a statement of why the Attorney General demands production of the requested records—and, as conveyed by the statute’s use of the definite article, the statement must be “the” factual basis, not just a conceivable or possible basis,” Sorokin wrote in his April dismissal order.

Assistant Attorney General of the Civil Rights Division Harmeet Dhillon filed a notice of appeal on behalf of the U.S. government on June 1

In the original December 2025 lawsuit, the DOJ did cite a reason of compliance for the request.

“The purpose of the request is to ascertain Massachusetts’s compliance with the list maintenance requirements of the NVRA and HAVA,” the DOJ complaint states.

The NVRA outlines how states must manage voter rolls for federal elections and restricts how and when voters can be removed, while the HAVA requires the implementation of a uniform, centralized and computerized Statewide Voter Registration List (SVRL).

Sorokin’s decision further noted the DOJ lawsuit is part of a larger national trend.

“This case is one of more than two dozen brought by the United States against state election officials seeking production of statewide voter registration lists,” he said.

The DOJ began to cross-reference SVRLs with federal databases after President Donald Trump signed Executive Order 14248 in March 2025.

The "Preserving and Protecting the Integrity of American Elections" order directed the Attorney General and the DOJ to seek "information-sharing agreements" with state election officials to gain access to state voting data.