- Utah Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson seeks dismissal of DOJ lawsuit asking for Utah's voter registration database.
- Henderson argues federal law doesn't mandate sharing private voter information.
- DOJ claims data is needed for compliance with federal voter roll laws.
SALT LAKE CITY — Utah Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson has asked a federal judge to dismiss a lawsuit from the U.S. Department of Justice seeking access to private records of Utah voters.
In a court filing last week, Henderson argued that a lawsuit by the Department of Justice would "upset" the balance that gives states authority to set their own election rules. She argued that federal law doesn't require states to turn over sensitive private information of their voters and that the department hadn't stated a valid reason for demanding the information.
"(E)ven if plaintiff's demands were otherwise authorized by law, plaintiff has stated no valid 'basis' or 'purpose' for its demands," reads the response, filed in U.S. District Court in Utah. "For all these reasons, its complaint should be dismissed."
President Donald Trump's Department of Justice sued Utah and four other states last month over voter rolls. The complaint alleged that Henderson had not complied with a request last year for the state's complete voter registration list, which includes names, dates of birth, addresses and either driver's license numbers or the final digits of Social Security numbers.
Henderson, at the time, said state law prohibits her from sharing the private information and the department declined offers to share publicly available voter lists.
A spokesperson for the lieutenant governor referred KSL to the recent court filing when asked for comment.
The department has sought voter information from dozens of states, though most have refused, and the department has so far not been successful in its lawsuits seeking access to the records.
A lawsuit targeting California's voter rolls was dismissed in January by a federal judge, who called the request "unprecedented and illegal," according to NPR. U.S. District Judge David Carter also said the request could have a "chilling effect" on citizens who might choose not to register to vote for fear of how their information will be used.
The Department of Justice, however, argues that the information is needed to ensure that states maintain voter rolls in accordance with federal law.
The lawsuit against Henderson was filed by Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon. It alleges that Henderson's refusal to turn over the entire voter list violates the Civil Rights Act of 1960.
Section 303 of that law requires "any record or paper" required to be retained by election officers "be made available for inspection, reproduction and copying at the principal office of such custodian by the attorney general."
But in response, state attorneys write that the Department of Justice mistakenly "reads this statute to confer a 'sweeping power to obtain' state voting records, requiring states to ignore their own voter privacy laws in the process."
Henderson received a letter from a federal attorney on July 15, 2025, requesting a copy of Utah's statewide voter registration list within 14 days, according to the response. That letter cited the need to ensure Utah's compliance with the National Registration Act of 1993. Henderson responded later that month, explaining Utah's process and explaining that the state was in compliance, according to her response.
The Department of Justice sent a second demand letter on Aug. 14, 2025, citing the Civil Rights Act and demanding more information about Utah voters. Utah's director of elections then asked the department to clarify the differences between the two demands.
Rather than answering those questions, the agency responded three months later with a proposed memorandum of understanding between the parties it claimed would address security for transferring voter data, according to the response.
"Once again, DOJ demanded that Utah agree to and sign the (memorandum of understanding) within seven days, and that the state turn over Utah voters' private information," Henderson's response states. Utah asked for more time to consider the "scope and complexity of the matter," but the department said such a timeline was "not acceptable."
Henderson did not sign the memorandum.
The lieutenant governor is now asking the court to throw out the agency's lawsuit because it "demands documents beyond the (Civil Rights Act)'s scope, seeks access to private and sensitive information that the statute does not compel, and fails to meet its own obligation to provide a purpose and basis for invoking the (Civil Rights Act)."
