Trump Loses Court Battles Over Push to Boost Federal Role in Elections

UNITED STATES – The Trump administration is losing an initial wave of legal battles over its push to access the private voter data of millions of Americans as the U.S. midterm elections approach.

The Department of Justice has sued 30 states plus the District of Columbia, seeking their voter rolls.

So far, judges have dismissed the cases against five states, including California, Massachusetts, Michigan, Oregon, and Rhode Island, though the DOJ said it will appeal some of those decisions.

The Justice Department said it needs the data, including Social Security numbers, to make sure states are keeping ineligible people off the rolls.

Judges have ruled that under the Constitution, running elections is a power reserved to the states, not the federal government.