Washington successfully defends private information of voters as federal government loses another case

Washington successfully defends private information of voters as federal government loses another case FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Sep 22 2026 atgSamBlobaum Tue, 09/22/2026 - 10:48 The federal government cannot force Washington state to give it the private information of all registered Washington voters, a federal judge ruled Tuesday. The ruling in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington dismisses the federal government’s case, which sought to compel the Office of the Secretary of State to break state law and provide the Department of Justice the unredacted private information of millions of Washington voters. The Attorney General’s Office represented the Office of the Secretary of State in this case. “Today’s decision reaffirms that my office has every right to protect voters’ private data,” said Secretary of State Steve Hobbs. “The DOJ has now lost 25 of these cases. Baseless demands for state voter rolls are part of a broader pattern of federal overreach in states’ elections. The DOJ does not have the authority or any reason to interfere with state election administration. We are grateful that the court dismissed this case and upheld our constitutional authorit