Judge Richard Andrews ruled that the federal government did not adequately demonstrate why it needed the full set of Delaware voter records — including Social Security numbers, birth dates and home addresses — to enforce the Civil Rights Act of 1960. The Justice Department had argued that access to voter data from every state was necessary to safeguard election integrity.

The lawsuit, filed in December, followed the state's refusal in July 2025 to voluntarily comply with the federal request. It named Elections Commissioner Anthony Albence as the official required to produce the records.

Delaware Attorney General Kathy Jennings welcomed the ruling, calling the DOJ's demand unlawful and an intrusion on state authority.

"The states — not the president — run elections," Jennings said in a statement. "It's our job to keep voters' data safe and we're not backing down."

The case drew intervention from individuals and nonprofit groups concerned about privacy and potential misuse of voter information. Among them was Beth Jennings, director of Widener University's Delaware Law School and a Middletown resident, who said she joined the suit to protect her own records and those of other Delawareans.

"I've been voting since I was 18. There hasn't been a need for the Department of Justice to know anything about my voter records for the past 30 years of voting," she said. "There was an opportunity to represent myself and other people in Delaware who might be harmed by the disclosure of this personally identifiable information to the DOJ, so I took the opportunity."

The American Civil Liberties Union of Delaware represented nonprofit organizations granted intervention in the case, including the Delaware Coalition Against Domestic Violence and La Esperanza. ACLU attorney Andrew Bernstein said the groups feared that, absent court-imposed limits, the data could be shared with immigration enforcement agencies.

"Immigrant rights organizations had been concerned that if the DOJ were to get this information, there wouldn't be any necessary limitations on sharing that information with immigration enforcement," Bernstein said. "I'll note that even at our hearing in this case, DOJ [was] still maintaining that they would reserve the right to take any data that they collected and share it with [the U.S. Department of Homeland Security]."

Elisabeth Frost, litigation chair at Elias Law Group, who represented Beth Jennings and Middletown resident Gemma Lowery, said the ruling adds Delaware to a growing list of courts that have rejected the Justice Department's approach.

"With today's ruling, every single one of the federal district courts with active cases — 28 in total — has rejected the attempt by President Trump's Department of Justice to turn a law intended to protect civil rights into a tool to seize Americans' private voter data," Frost said.

Federal courts in Pennsylvania and New Jersey have issued similar dismissals.

The decision comes amid heightened tension over federal involvement in elections. Ahead of last week's midterm elections, the Trump administration asserted without evidence that widespread noncitizen voting was occurring. The president issued an executive order in March that would have used the U.S. Postal Service to restrict delivery of mail-in ballots; the Supreme Court later blocked parts of that order from taking effect.

In Delaware, the DOJ deployed election monitors to polling places in New Castle County, raising concerns among local officials. Despite those worries, election officials reported that the state's general election ran smoothly.

The ruling is likely to resonate beyond Delaware's borders as other states confront similar federal demands for voter data. For now, Delaware's voter rolls remain under state control, and the personal information of its residents will not be turned over to the Justice Department under this lawsuit.