A federal appeals court heard arguments this week in an ongoing lawsuit over the U.S. Department of Justice’s attempt to obtain Michigan’s full, unredacted voter file, including private voter information such as Social Security number information.

The case stems from a 2025 request by the DOJ seeking voter roll data from Michigan and multiple other states as part of a broader effort tied to voter roll maintenance and allegations of noncitizen voting. Michigan provided publicly available voter file information last September but refused to release sensitive personal identifying information, arguing that doing so would violate state and federal law.

The DOJ later sued Michigan after the state declined to provide the unredacted records.

In February 2026, Chief U.S. District Judge Hala Y. Jarbou dismissed the lawsuit, ruling that the federal laws cited by the DOJ did not require Michigan to disclose the information. The federal government appealed that decision to the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals.

At the center of this week’s hearing was whether Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson is legally required under the Civil Rights Act to provide continuously updated voter registration records to the federal government.

Attorneys for the DOJ argued that Michigan election officials “come into possession” of voter registration records whenever voters update or change their registration information. Attorneys representing Michigan argued that the law applies only to specific election records, not to the state’s continually updated voter registration database.

Michigan officials and voting rights advocates have also raised concerns about the privacy implications of releasing sensitive information connected to more than 8 million registered voters.

According to court filings referenced during the hearing, Michigan has canceled more than 1.4 million voter registrations since 2019 through voter roll maintenance efforts that included removing deceased voters, inactive registrations, and voters who requested removal.

The appeals court has not announced when it will issue a decision.

The outcome of the case could affect how voter registration information is handled not only in Michigan, but in other states facing similar legal challenges over requests for voter data.