Court dismisses federal case seeking Nevadans’ sensitive voter data

LAS VEGAS – A federal judge on Friday rejected the federal government’s demand that the state of Nevada share sensitive voter registration data with the U.S. Department of Justice.

The ruling by Judge Anne R. Traum, adds to a pile of losses for the federal government in its attempts to capture unredacted state voter rolls across the country.

The case is United States of America v. Aguilar, Case No. 3:25-cv-728. The ruling and other documents can be found online (directs to aclunv.org).

The American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada and the ACLU filed to intervene in the case in December when the DOJ sued the state to collect non-public information, including voters’ full names, addresses, dates of birth, driver’s license numbers, and partial Social Security numbers —highly sensitive data that is protected under state and federal law.

The ACLU Voting Rights Project has successfully intervened in DOJ lawsuits over voters’ private data across the U.S.

ACLU of Nevada executive director Athar Haseebullah (he/him) said:

“The Constitution is crystal clear that the states control their own elections. While we’re glad to see this chapter wrap-up, threats of interference into our state-run election system have not ended. We will continue to intervene in any case in which the sensitive information of Nevada voters is subject to risk of federal seizure. We have never shied away from a fight for our right to vote or our privacy rights, and we will hold the line against election interference and intimidation as we head into November. We applaud our Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar for doing everything he can in this case to make sure the privacy interests of Nevadans are protected against a federal government that continues to act lawlessly."

ACLU of Nevada senior staff attorney Sadmira Ramic (she/her) said:

"No court has ruled in favor of the government on these dangerous attempts to seize sensitive voter data. Today's ruling prevents the federal government from overstepping its power in Nevada as the government continues to try to obtain sensitive and private voter information for potentially nefarious reasons, including creating a national database of voters and interfering in future elections.”