Hi there, Michigan.

I listened in yesterday as the federal government argued that it needs Michigan’s full, unredacted voter roll. 

If you’re unfamiliar with the issue at hand, the DOJ demanded voter rolls from Michigan and several other states last year. The state turned over some data — but only what is already publicly available (and only after a brief delay due to uncertainty over how to send the massive file). The Trump administration wants the unredacted version, though, which includes private data such as Social Security numbers. So the DOJ sued Michigan and a number of other states.

A federal judge dismissed that case back in February, writing that none of the laws cited by the DOJ in its suit required the data to be disclosed. The federal government then appealed the case to the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, which is located in Cincinnati, Ohio. That brings us to yesterday, when a hearing was held.

The hearing lasted about 40 minutes, and the core issue at hand was what “comes into possession of” means in the Civil Rights Act. The federal government argued that Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson comes into possession of records whenever voters change their registration information, while the state argued that the Civil Rights Act only makes officials hold on to documents related to specific elections. (Courthouse News Service has a great writeup if you want more detail than we can get into in this newsletter.) 

It’s not clear when we might get an answer, although the judges promised to issue an opinion “as expeditiously as possible.” 

At stake is whether Michigan has to turn over its full voter rolls, with the private information of more than 8 million people — and, potentially, if other states need to as well. Michigan is far from the only state facing legal action after the DOJ started requesting voter rolls around the country (and after judges started denying them when the government sued), but I do believe we’re the first to argue before an appeals court. 

The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals tends to move quicker than other courts, too. While similar cases in other states have arguments scheduled as soon as next week, it’s possible, even likely, that Michigan gets a decision before those other cases are decided.

It wouldn’t be for quite some time, but it could mean Michigan ends up defending its decision (and the DOJ ends up arguing for its request) before the U.S. Supreme Court. I wrote about the likelihood of that scenario back in March — it ultimately depends on how far either government is willing to go to prove that it is correct.

I know it’s only May, but each passing day puts us that much closer to the primaries in August and to the general election in November. If you have questions about elections (or things you think I should know about), I’d love to hear from you. I’m at [email protected]. If you know someone else who might enjoy this newsletter, please pass it along to them as well. They can subscribe right here.

Looking for your next read? Check out these other great newsletters.