A federal judge in Rhode Island has dismissed a Justice Department lawsuit demanding detailed voter registration data from the state, dealing the Trump administration yet another courtroom defeat in its sweeping campaign to access voter files from states across the country. US District Court Judge Mary McElroy ruled on Friday that federal law does not permit the Justice Department "to conduct the kind of fishing expedition it seeks here," siding with Rhode Island's top election officials and civil rights advocates.

The ruling is part of a growing pattern of judicial resistance to the administration's efforts. Federal judges have now rejected similar Justice Department attempts in California, Massachusetts, Michigan and Oregon, in addition to Rhode Island. In Georgia, a separate DOJ lawsuit was dismissed on procedural grounds after it was filed in the wrong city. The department has sued at least 30 states and the District of Columbia seeking to compel the release of voter data — including dates of birth, home addresses, driver's licence numbers and partial Social Security numbers — arguing the information is needed to ensure election security.

Not all states have resisted. At least 12 — among them Texas, Ohio and Alaska — have either provided or pledged to provide their detailed voter registration lists to the department. The Rhode Island case exposed a key concern driving opposition: DOJ attorneys acknowledged in court that the department intended to share unredacted voter data with the Department of Homeland Security to check citizenship status, fuelling fears among critics that the data would be used for immigration enforcement rather than election administration.

Under the US Constitution, the administration of elections is a responsibility reserved for individual states, and only Congress may pass laws governing how states oversee voting. Rhode Island Secretary of State Gregg Amore welcomed the ruling, saying the executive branch had been "regularly meddling in responsibilities that are the rights of the states." The Justice Department declined to comment on the decision, citing ongoing litigation.

The voter data push is one of several moves that have heightened concern about how the Trump administration intends to influence the November midterm elections, which will determine the composition of Congress. President Trump has continued to claim, without evidence, that the 2020 election was fraudulent, and his administration is backing the so-called SAVE America Act, a bill that would require stricter documentation to prove citizenship when registering to vote. Critics warn the legislation could disenfranchise millions of eligible voters, including people who have legally changed their names — a common occurrence after marriage — while studies consistently show that instances of voter fraud in the United States are extremely rare.