ATLANTA (AP) — A federal judge in Georgia on Friday dismissed a U.S. Justice Department lawsuit seeking voter information from the state, ruling that the federal government filed the case in the wrong city.
U.S. District Judge Ashley Royal argued that the government should prosecute Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger in Atlanta, rather than in a separate federal judicial district in Macon, where the secretary of state also has an office.
Royal dismissed the lawsuit without prejudice, meaning the Justice Department can refile it. The department declined to comment Friday.
The Justice Department has now filed lawsuits against 24 states and the District of Columbia seeking voter information to collect detailed voting data, including dates of birth, driver’s licenses and Social Security numbers. A federal judge in California dismissed a lawsuit against the state on privacy grounds, while a judge in Oregon suggested he might dismiss the state’s case.
The Trump administration has framed the lawsuits as an effort to ensure election security, and the Justice Department said states violated federal law by refusing to provide voter lists and information.
Raffensperger was the rare Republican to reject the request, saying Georgia law prohibits the release of voters’ personal secrets unless certain conditions are met. Raffensperger believes the federal government failed to meet those conditions. He said he shared the public portion of the voter rolls in December and how Georgia removes ineligible or outdated registrations.
“I will always follow the law and abide by the Constitution,” Raffensperger said in a statement Friday. “I will not violate my oath to stand up for the people of this state, no matter who or what compels me to do otherwise.”
Refusal to turn over records has become an issue in Raffensperger’s 2026 gubernatorial campaign. In January 2021, Raffensperger rejected President Donald Trump’s request in a phone call to “find” enough votes to overturn Democrat Joe Biden’s 2020 presidential election win in Georgia. Many Trump-loving Republicans still hold a grudge against Raffensperger.
The issue erupted during a state Senate committee hearing just Thursday, with multiple Republican state senators blasting Raffensperger for failing to comply, saying he was legally allowed to do so. The committee voted along party lines to advance a resolution requiring Raffensperger to turn over the data, calling it “the latest example of a pattern of refusal by the secretary of state and his office to oversee conduct in Georgia’s election administration.”
Republican state Sen. Randy Robertson of Cataula, who sponsored the resolution, said the dismissal was “frustrating” because even if the Justice Department reopens the case, the issue will take longer to resolve.
“As public officials, we should all be involved in any investigation conducted by law enforcement agencies,” Robertson told The Associated Press on Friday.
Robertson was one of many Republican lawmakers who backed Lt. Gov. Bert Jones over Raffensperger for the Republican gubernatorial nomination. Jones, who has received the endorsement of Trump’s gubernatorial campaign, was one of 16 state Republicans who signed a certificate of Trump’s victory in Georgia and declared himself a “duly elected and qualified” elector of the state.