League of Women Voters of Michigan files motion to intervene in DOJ lawsuit for voter rolls
by Katherine Dailey, Michigan Advance
November 3, 2025
The League of Women Voters of Michigan has filed a motion to intervene on behalf of voters in the federal court case in which the U.S. Department of Justice is suing Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson and the state of Michigan for access to voter registration data.
“We will not stand by while a federal fishing expedition puts the information of millions of Michiganders at risk and encourages voter intimidation,” said Lynne Kochmanski, co-president of the League of Women Voters of Michigan, in a press release from the organization.
The case, currently in district court in the Western District of Michigan, argues that Michigan has violated the Civil Rights Act of 1960, the National Voter Registration Act and the Help America Vote Act by refusing to turn over detailed information about all registered voters in Michigan, including their driver’s license number, dates of birth, and the last four digits of their Social Security number.
The motion to intervene argues that, unlike the State of Michigan and Benson, the League of Women Voters of Michigan “is comprised of individuals who personally fear USDOJ accessing their data unlawfully,” giving them an important stake in the case.
Additionally, the motion states, the work of the League of Women Voters to encourage voter registration and education will be harmed if private voter registration information is given to the Department of Justice.
“[League of Women Voters of Michigan’s] interest in civic participation will be impaired if USDOJ can use this Court to compel Michigan to produce protected, sensitive voter data,” the organization wrote in their motion. “Michigan citizens may be more hesitant to register to vote for fear that their data will be released or used inappropriately.”
The League of Women Voters argues that the Justice Department has not sufficiently justified why they need access to this personally identifiable information, as opposed to the publicly available versions of the voter rolls, which have been sent.
“There is no reason for the federal government to seize control of voter data that they do not need and have no right to possess,” Kochmanski continued in the press release. “We are seeking to intervene to send a clear message to the administration and voters: we will fight to protect our members’ and voters’ data from unlawful seizure.”
“I’m required to follow the law. State and federal law include strict privacy protections that keep people’s personal data confidential and keep everyone safe from identity theft,” Benson wrote in a statement on the lawsuit in September. “States can and must hold the line. Only state and local election officials – not the president, the DOJ, or any other federal agency – have the right to people’s private voter information. The people of Michigan have entrusted this department with their personal data, and I will stand up to this illegal and unconstitutional power grab.”
Brent Ferguson, director of strategic litigation of the Campaign Legal Center — who are among those representing the League of Women Voters — called the case by the Department of Justice “an act of federal overreach that risks violating voters’ privacy and potentially disincentivizing people from casting ballots.”
Eileen O’Connor, senior counsel of the Brennan Center for Justice, another part of the league’s representation, added in the press release, “This push is part of the administration’s campaign to undermine our elections. The department may manipulate the data in service of false claims about our elections or to pressure states to remove eligible voters from the rolls.”
Other statewide League of Women Voters organizations in Maine, New York, Pennsylvania, Minnesota and California have filed motions in similar cases brought against their respective states by the Department of Justice.
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