Judges dismissed two separate voter roll lawsuits filed by President Donald Trump's Department of Justice (DOJ) in Maine and Wisconsin, in what marks another legal setback in the administration’s broader push to force states to hand over detailed voter registration data.

In Wisconsin, U.S. District Judge James D. Peterson said the state’s voter registration list was not a record that can be requested under federal law provisions cited by the DOJ, following similar cases in Arizona and other states where courts have limited federal access to sensitive voter data.

Meanwhile, in Maine, Chief U.S. District Judge Lance Walker granted a state motion to dismiss the government’s claim, which he called “half-hearted.”

The DOJ has filed lawsuits against more than 30 states and the District of Columbia in an effort to compel the release of expanded voter data, including dates of birth, residential addresses, driver’s license numbers and partial Social Security numbers.

The administration has argued voter registration information is needed to ensure states are complying with federal election laws, particularly provisions requiring maintenance of accurate voter rolls, but the bid for voter files has raised questions about the limits of federal power and voter privacy protections ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.

In April, a federal judge dismissed another DOJ lawsuit seeking access to Arizona's detailed voter registration records. U.S. District Judge Susan Brnovich, a Trump appointee, ruled that Arizona’s statewide voter registration list is “not a document subject to request by the Attorney General” under federal law.

Meanwhile, judges have rejected or narrowed similar DOJ lawsuits in Rhode Island, California, Massachusetts, Michigan and Oregon. In Georgia, a federal judge dismissed the federal government’s case on procedural grounds after it was filed in the wrong city, prompting the DOJ to refile the lawsuit elsewhere.

The judgment follows Maine officials’ refusal in August 2025 to comply with a DOJ request for voter roll data, prompting the department to file suit the following month.

The DOJ had sought access to Maine’s voter registration data as part of its broader effort to obtain detailed voter records nationwide, but state officials argued that releasing certain information would violate privacy protections under state law and exceed what federal statutes require.

Judge Walker wrote in his decision, “Under our Constitution, states are the primary regulators and administrators of elections for federal office, unless Congress passes legislation that preempts that framework. And Congress’s power to do even that is itself subject to limitations.”