Court blocks DOJ bid for unredacted New Jersey voter rolls, cites privacy and statutory limits

A federal judge in New Jersey dismissed with prejudice the DOJ’s lawsuit seeking New Jersey’s complete, unredacted voter-registration database, ruling that Title III inspections cover only records in the possession of election officials and not a state-maintained electronic list. The decision preserves voters’ personal data (driver’s license numbers and final four SSNs), notes the database is a live, dynamic file, and finds that federal law would conflict with other federal election statutes if the DOJ’s view were adopted. The ruling aligns with similar dismissals by many other federal courts, and the DOJ may appeal. Intervenors including civil-rights groups defended New Jersey’s privacy protections.