United States v. DeMarinis

On December 1, 2025, DOJ sued Maryland, seeking release of the state’s unredacted voter file, which includes voters’ full names, dates of birth, residential addresses, driver’s license numbers, and the last four digits of voters’ Social Security numbers. DOJ claims—without merit—that this disclosure is compelled by the Civil Rights Act of 1960.

DOJ’s lawsuit is one of eighteen such suits it has brought recently in an apparent effort to create a national voter database without congressional authorization. Less than two weeks after DOJ filed suit, we filed a motion to intervene and accompanying motion to dismiss on behalf of two civil rights organizations—Common Cause and Out for Justice, Inc.—and three Maryland voters. These Maryland voters include a civil rights leader who had previously been illegally surveilled by the FBI, a naturalized citizen, and a returning citizen—three categories of voters particularly at risk from DOJ’s lawsuit. Intervenors are represented by the ACLU Voting Rights Project and the ACLU of Maryland.