A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed by the Trump administration seeking access to New Jersey’s confidential voter registration database, ruling that federal law does not require the state to turn over its computerized voter records.

In a 17-page decision issued Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Zahid Quraishi ruled that New Jersey’s statewide digital voter registration system is not among the records the state is obligated to provide to the federal government under existing election laws. The lawsuit sought sensitive voter information, including home addresses, driver’s license numbers, dates of birth, partial Social Security numbers, and other personal data.

The ruling comes about a week after Governor Mikie Sherrill disclosed that approximately 6,600 individuals who identified themselves as noncitizens were registered to vote in New Jersey between June 2023 and June 2024, with roughly 400 casting ballots. The Justice Department argued that the disclosure strengthened its case for obtaining the voter data, but Judge Quraishi rejected that argument, stating it was not relevant to the legal question before the court.

Judge Quraishi dismissed the lawsuit with prejudice, preventing the Trump administration from refiling the case, though the Department of Justice has indicated it plans to appeal the decision.

“We disagree with the court’s decision and will appeal,” a Justice Department spokesperson said in a statement.

New Jersey Attorney General Jen Davenport praised the ruling, saying courts across the country have consistently rejected similar efforts to obtain confidential voter information.

“Every court to consider the question, now totaling seventeen district courts and a federal court of appeals, have unanimously rejected this clear federal overreach. We will continue to act in accordance with federal and state law and protect New Jerseyans’ privacy and people’s personal information,” Davenport said.

New Jersey had previously provided the federal government with its publicly available voter list, which excludes private identifying information, but declined to release the unredacted statewide voter database.

In his opinion, Quraishi wrote that the federal law cited by the Justice Department applies to election records such as voter registration applications that cannot be altered, not to New Jersey’s computerized voter file, which election officials regularly update to maintain accurate records.

The decision marks another setback for the Trump administration’s efforts to obtain sensitive voter data from states. Similar requests have been rejected by at least 16 other federal district courts, as well as the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.

Governor Sherrill has maintained that releasing the confidential voter information could expose New Jersey residents’ personal data and potentially allow the federal government to target certain voters.