Federal judge dismisses DOJ request to obtain unredacted voter rolls in New Jersey

A federal judge has rejected an effort by the Department of Justice to obtain New Jersey's unredacted voter rolls, handing a win to the state, which wanted to withhold voters' personal information. 

The DOJ lawsuit was filed months ago, and the ruling comes a week after New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherril disclosed that the state had accidentally added 6,600 noncitizens to its voter rolls between 2023 and 2024. 

In July 2025, the DOJ asked New Jersey officials for a copy of their voter registration list, which is part of a nationwide effort to obtain voter records, Politico reported. New Jersey’s Division of Elections sent the information, but it withheld voters’ driver’s license numbers and the last four digits of their Social Security numbers, citing privacy concerns.

When the state refused to provide unredacted lists, the DOJ filed a lawsuit in February. District Judge Zahid Quraishi, who didn't hear oral arguments, ruled that the DOJ can't compel the state to release its records and cited more than a dozen rulings that came to the same conclusion involving other states.