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Must Michigan give the U.S. its voter list with personal details?

United States v. Benson

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At a glance

The Justice Department sued for Michigan's full voter list, including personal fields the state withheld. The trial court dismissed the suit; the Sixth Circuit affirmed and declined to rehear it.

  1. What happened · 6 steps
    1. Justice Department asks for Michigan's voter listJuly 2025

      Michigan sent a partial list, leaving out fields with voters' personal information.

    2. The United States sues for the full listSep 2025

      It cited three federal laws: the Help America Vote Act, the National Voter Registration Act, and the Civil Rights Act of 1960.

    3. Retiree group and two voters join the defenseDec 2025

      The court let the Michigan Alliance for Retired Americans and two voters intervene, but not the League of Women Voters.

    4. Trial court dismisses the suitFeb 2026

      The judge held that none of the three laws requires Michigan to hand over its voter registration list.

    5. Appeals court affirmsJun 2026

      A divided Sixth Circuit panel upheld the dismissal, with one judge dissenting.

    6. Full appeals court declines to rehearAug 2026

      The Sixth Circuit denied the government's request for rehearing by the full court, and its mandate issued.

  2. Michigan need not hand over the full list

    The dismissal stands after the appeal and a denied rehearing request; no further appeal appears on the docket.

Where it stands

The dismissal was affirmed on appeal and the full appeals court declined to rehear it.

Follow what's happening

  1. Suit filed

    Sep 25, 2025

    The United States sued for Michigan's full voter list.

  2. Motions to dismiss

    Feb 10, 2026

    The trial court dismissed the suit; judgment followed Feb 23.

  3. Government appeals

    Feb 25, 2026

    The United States appealed to the Sixth Circuit.

  4. Appeals court ruling

    Jun 24, 2026

    A divided panel affirmed the dismissal.

  5. Rehearing request

    Aug 14, 2026

    The full court declined to rehear the case; the mandate issued Aug 24.

The parties

United States

Plaintiff and appellant

The federal government, through the Justice Department

Wants

Michigan's full, unredacted voter list

Key arguments

  • The Help America Vote Act requires disclosure

    Rejected; upheld on appeal. Final ruling. The trial court held the Act does not require disclosing any records.

  • The voter-registration law opens the list

    Rejected; upheld on appeal. Final ruling. The trial court held the list is not a record of list-maintenance programs.

  • The 1960 Civil Rights Act reaches election records

    Rejected; upheld on appeal. Final ruling. The trial court held the list is not a record that comes into officials' possession.

Represented by

Counsel not recorded in this snapshot

Michigan, Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, and intervenors

Defendants, intervenor-defendants, and appellees

The state, its election chief, and admitted intervenors

Wants

Dismissal of the suit for the full list

Key arguments

  • No cited federal law requires the full list

    Accepted; affirmed on appeal. Final ruling. Trial court dismissed in February 2026; the Sixth Circuit affirmed in June 2026.

  • Michigan already shared a list without private fields

    Not yet addressed by the court

Represented by

Counsel not recorded in this snapshot

Friends of the court on appeal: Center for Election Confidence and allied groups and Michigan House of Representatives and America's Future and Citizens United and Democratic National Committee and Former U.S. Justice Department employees and League of Women Voters and Bipartisan former secretaries of state and Lawyers' Committee, NAACP, Urban League, LULAC and Common Cause and Kentucky State Board of Elections and Local election officials and Historians Burton, Kousser, and McCrary and Bipartisan American Election Project and Electronic Privacy Information Center

Supporting plaintiff and appellant: Honest Elections Project and American Constitutional Rights Union and Liberty Legal Foundation

Content snapshot as of .