Courier Journal: DOJ lawsuit seeking unredacted KY voter rolls dismissed in federal court
Lillian Metzmeier and Killian Baarlaer, Courier Journal
July 23, 2026 — The U.S. Department of Justice's lawsuit against Kentucky Secretary of State Michael Adams and the State Board of Elections seeking unredacted information on Kentucky voters was dismissed July 23, according to a release from Jefferson County Clerk David Yates.
In February, the DOJ filed a lawsuit against Kentucky officials for failing to provide a full, unredacted voter registration list for the commonwealth. The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky, claimed officials like Adams violated both federal civil rights laws and national voter registration laws by not giving the list to the DOJ.
In a statement posted to social media July 23, Adams wrote, "We have won our case in federal court on protecting voter privacy. Kentucky's elections are secure, and so is your personal information."
The fight for more federal control over elections comes as President Donald Trump's administration seeks to weed out immigrants who are in the country illegally. According to reporting by USA TODAY, courts have unanimously rejected the DOJ's demands for voter lists with personal information such as addresses, dates of birth and driver's license and Social Security numbers, which local officials contend would create a "sweeping surveillance tool."
According a ruling issued by U.S. District Judge Claria Horn Boom, a Trump appointee, the court decided that the unredacted voter registration records are not subject to disclosure under Title III of the Help America Vote Act.
The release states Boom's opinion relied on the Sixth Circuit's recent decision in United States v. Benson, which "found that disclosure requirements cited by the federal government do not extend to the sensitive voter registration information at issue in the case."
The Jefferson County Clerk's Office intervened in the lawsuit in March, arguing the office has an interest in the case given its responsibility for maintaining voter registration information for Jefferson County.
"I was proud to be the first Clerk in the nation to intervene in the lawsuit brought by President Donald Trump and the DOJ in defense of the United States Constitution and our local laws," Yates said. "Jefferson County has always turned over our full voter files to our Kentucky Secretary of State, and we were proud to have stood with our Secretary of State in opposing President Trump's illegal attempt to exert national control of our local elections."
Jefferson County Attorney Mike O'Connell, whose office represented the clerk's office in the legal proceedings, slammed the DOJ for seeking Kentucky's voter data at a July 24 news conference. He noted the case was dismissed with prejudice, meaning the DOJ cannot make the same claims in another lawsuit against Kentucky.
"The Department of Justice, which is a shadow of what it used to be, should be embarrassed to the hilt that they even brought this," he said.
The DOJ filed a notice of appeal with the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals July 24.
