Federal court dismisses Trump DOJ lawsuit seeking California voter data

A federal court has thrown out a lawsuit brought by the Trump administration attempting to force the state of California to turn over sensitive voter data. The decision , issued by the U.S. Central District Court of Southern California, is a major setback to the federal government’s massive data collection effort on American voters, and its argument that existing civil rights laws permit it to demand that information from states in the name of election integrity.

The ruling, signed by Judge David Carter, called voting “a fundamental political right” and stated flatly: “the government’s request is unprecedented and illegal.” Carter noted that the civil rights laws the Department of Justice cited to justify its demand for the records were “to protect hard won civil rights victories allowing