The Department of Justice has sued approximately 30 states for not complying with requests for unredacted state voter rolls.
Posted by The Lawfare Podcast, Checked
- Sources
- 5 support1 context
- Said
- 1 time·
- Confidence
- 85%
The Lawfare PodcastSep 14, 2026
The claim matches the post's wording and is supported: DOJ's own February 2026 release put its nationwide total at 29 states plus DC, and later reporting (The Atlantic, October 2026) cites 30 states plus DC, with Bloomberg Law counting 31 district court suits against states and DC by July 2026.
This claim is about the present, so it is judged as of the day it was checked.
What was said
… Eric Columbus, you have been very quiet so far today. Ah, what is, um, ah, Assistant Attorney General Army Dillon up to here? Ah, it's, it's, it's not entirely clear. Ah, this, this, as, and this entire litigation, actually, ah, in which DOJ has sued around 30 states for not complying with DOJ's request to, ah, cough up the public, or rather not unredacted private rec voter state voter rules, and so far DOJ is something like zero for 22 in court on, on this issue, and including both district courts and one court of appeals decision. …
The Lawfare Podcast · · from the transcriptPost →What we found
Supports. The Justice Department's February 26, 2026 press release says the lawsuits brought its nationwide total to 29 states and the District of Columbia.[2]
Supports. The Atlantic (October 15, 2026) reports that DOJ has filed lawsuits against 30 states and the District of Columbia over state voter rolls.[3]
Supports. Bloomberg Law (July 17, 2026) describes the suits as brought against states that refused to hand over their unredacted voter rolls, counting 31 district court suits against states and Washington, DC.[4]
Supports. Holtzman Vogel's March 2026 primer and NCSL's August 2026 briefing also describe suits against 29 states and DC and the refusal to provide full, unredacted lists.[5][6]
Context. The figures count the District of Columbia in some tallies, so the state-only count is about 29 to 30, which still fits 'approximately 30'.[2][3]
Context. Courts have dismissed most of these suits, and the DOJ has lost nearly all of them. This does not affect whether DOJ sued the states.[1][3][4]
Sources
6 sources: 1 fact-checker, 1 primary, 1 tier 2, 3 not rated
- 1Trump loses 21 straight court battles for state voter rolls as midterms nearreuters.com · fact-checker · cited for: context
- 2Justice Department Sues Five Additional States for Failure ...justice.gov · primary source · cited for: supports, context
- 30 for 26: The Trump Administration’s Astonishing Losing Recordtheatlantic.com · tier 2 · cited for: supports, context
- 4DOJ Down Big, But Not Out Yet, in State Voter Rolls Quest (1)news.bloomberglaw.com · not rated · cited for: supports, context
- 5DOJ's Voter Roll Lawsuits: A Primerholtzmanvogel.com · not rated · cited for: supports
- 6Brief Federal Requests for Statewide Voter Listsncsl.org · not rated · cited for: supports
Where this claim was made
Said in 1 published post
Related claims
- The Department of Justice sued 30 states plus the District of Columbia to obtain sensitive voter list information.True
- The Department of Justice has filed 31 cases against 30 states and the District of Columbia regarding voter data.True
- The Department of Justice has sued 30 states for unredacted voter lists and lost 23 of these cases.True
- The Department of Justice has lost 22 court cases regarding requests for state voter rolls, including district court and court of appeals decisions.True
- The Trump administration has sued 30 states for their voter lists and has lost 23 of the cases and won none.True