DOJ Voter-Roll Suit Against Maryland Dismissed — DOJ Record Now 0-9, Five Trump-Appointed Judges in the Majority

U.S. District Judge Stephanie Gallagher — a Trump appointee — dismissed the DOJ’s lawsuit seeking Maryland’s unredacted voter registration file, ruling that the Civil Rights Act of 1960 does not authorize the U.S. Attorney General to compel disclosure of sensitive voter data. The court dismissed the CRA claim with prejudice, legally barring DOJ from refiling that specific claim in the same court.

The dismissal brings DOJ’s record to 0-9 across the 31 voter-roll suits filed under AAG Harmeet Dhillon. Nine dismissals came from judges spanning the ideological spectrum — five Trump appointees and four Democratic appointees — producing a cross-partisan consensus that the cited statutes (NVRA, HAVA, Civil Rights Act 1960) do not grant the AG compulsory access to state voter rolls.

DOJ has appealed all eight prior losses (OR → 9th Circuit; CA → 9th Circuit; MI → 6th Circuit; MA → 1st Circuit; RI → 3rd Circuit; AZ → 9th Circuit; WI → appeal confirmed June 2026; ME → appeal confirmed June 2026). Maryland appeal status not yet announced.

Structural significance: The 0-9 record across both Trump and Democratic appointees eliminates the “Democratic judicial resistance” framing DOJ has attempted to deploy. The cases now ascend simultaneously to four circuits; a circuit split in any one would create the strongest SCOTUS cert vehicle before November 2026.

Cross-links:

• election-capture-state-ag-counter-litigation-tracker-ca-mi-or-appeals-30-state-status — full tracker note
• election-system-capture-2026-three-thread-coordinated-implementation-of-eo-14399 — Thread C architecture
• 2026-06-17–talwani-allows-mail-ballot-eo-challenge-rejects-ripeness-delay — companion Front A ruling from June 17