A federal judge on Tuesday dismissed a U.S. Department of Justice lawsuit against Arizona that sought access to the state's detailed voter registration records, dealing the Trump administration its sixth legal defeat in a nationwide campaign to obtain voter data from states. U.S. District Judge Susan Brnovich, a Trump appointee, ruled that Title III of the Civil Rights Act of 1960 does not grant the Attorney General the authority to demand Arizona's statewide voter registration list. The judge dismissed the case with prejudice, writing that "amendment would be legally futile."

Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, a Democrat, had refused to comply with the Justice Department's request, which sought voters' full names, dates of birth, home addresses, driver's license numbers and partial Social Security numbers. Fontes and Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes issued a joint statement calling the ruling a vindication, saying the data "contains the sensitive personal information of millions of Arizona voters" and accusing the federal government of overreach. The Justice Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The DOJ sued Fontes in January after he declined to hand over the data last summer. Federal officials have maintained that access to detailed voter records is necessary to verify that states are complying with the National Voter Registration Act and the Help America Vote Act. In a separate case involving Rhode Island, a Justice Department attorney acknowledged that the government intended to run voter registration data through a Department of Homeland Security database to check the citizenship status of registered voters.

Courts have now rejected similar DOJ efforts in Arizona, Rhode Island, California, Massachusetts, Michigan and Oregon. In Georgia, a judge dismissed a DOJ lawsuit on procedural grounds, and the government has refiled that case. At least 13 states, including Texas, Ohio and Indiana, have either provided or agreed to provide their voter registration data to the department. The string of losses raises significant legal questions about the scope of federal authority over state-administered election records.

The broader campaign reflects President Trump's sustained push to expand the federal government's role in election administration, with the administration frequently citing concerns about noncitizen voting, which election officials and researchers describe as rare. Critics, including Democratic and some Republican state officials, have argued the data requests violate state and federal privacy laws. It remains unclear whether the Justice Department will appeal the Arizona ruling or adjust its legal strategy in the remaining pending cases.