Feds sue Minnesota secretary of state over refusal to hand over voter rolls

Nathaniel Minor, The Minnesota Star Tribune on Sep 25, 2025

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MINNEAPOLIS — The U.S. Department of Justice is suing Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon over his refusal to provide the federal government with a copy of the state’s voter registration list.

The department’s lawsuit, filed in federal court on Thursday, says it wants the data to allow the U.S. attorney general “to effectively assess Minnesota’s compliance” with federal elections law. It wants data including voters’ full names, dates of birth, addresses, driver’s license numbers and the last four digits of their Social Security numbers.

“Defendants’ refusal to provide these records as requested constitutes a continuing violation of Federal law,” DOJ officials wrote in the suit.

The DOJ and Simon’s office have been playing tug-of-war over the voter data since July. Simon’s office, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the lawsuit, initially declined the DOJ’s request, saying it did not “identify any legal basis” for its request. The DOJ also didn’t explain how the data would be used, stored and secured.

Reuters reported earlier this month that the DOJ is considering transferring sensitive voter data to be used in criminal and immigration-related investigations. That follows an Associated Press report saying the DOJ is shifting away from its historical role of protecting access to the ballot and instead focusing on issues championed by conservative activists, including unfounded claims of voter fraud.

“We don’t know what this will ultimately lead to,” Simon told the Minnesota Star Tribune in August. “But all we’re trying to do is be faithful to the law and safeguard the privacy of millions of Minnesotans.”

The DOJ has asked for similar voter data from other states. The department sued Oregon and Maine earlier this month after officials in those states refused to divulge voter data. Trump administration officials are also trying to collect other sensitive databases from Minnesota officials.

Several legal experts have said that federal elections and privacy laws generally favor Minnesota officials’ decision not to hand over the data. Those laws purposefully limit the oversight powers of the federal government in favor of state autonomy in election matters, they say.

“Minnesota should welcome this lawsuit so that federal judges can weigh in on exactly what DOJ has the right to acquire here,” Justin Levitt, a law professor at Loyola Law School who has worked for the DOJ, wrote in an email on Thursday.

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