With Nebraska's voting records in DOJ hands, state Supreme Court declares a challenge moot

LINCOLN, Neb. (CN) — Four months after Nebraska officials turned voter data over to the U.S. Department of Justice, the state Supreme Court on Friday dismissed a lawsuit challenging the move as moot.

The decision is a rare setback in recent weeks for those fighting the DOJ’s efforts to vacuum up voter data across the United States. In April a federal judge sided with Rhode Island, writing federal law did not allow the department “to conduct the kind of fishing expedition it seeks here.” Last week a federal judge in Maryland dismissed a DOJ lawsuit over the state’s voter records.

In its decision, the Nebraska high court declined the opportunity to invoke a legal principle allowing it to decide on matters that have technically already been settled.

“Because Nebraska’s voter registration list has already been released to the DOJ, this matter is moot, and we decline to apply the public interest exception to the mootness doctrine,” Chief Justice Jeffrey J. Funke wrote in a unanimous opinion issued Friday.

Grassroots organization Common Cause Nebraska, one of the plaintiffs in the case, released a statement following the ruling, saying it would pursue voter privacy measures in the Nebraska Legislature.

“Voters need to feel safe, knowing that registering to vote will not subject them to data risks or intimidation. We will push to make sure voters have that certainty,” Gavin Geis, Common Cause’s Nebraska executive director, said in the statement.

Secretary of State Robert Evnen’s office, the named defendant in the suit, did not immediately return an email seeking comment.

Common Cause and Nebraska voter Dawn Essink sued in September 2025 to prevent Essink’s personal information from being sent to the DOJ. Earlier that month, the department demanded a roster of every voter in the state with their full name, date of birth, address, driver’s license number and the last four digits of their Social Security number.

Evnen initially delayed handing over the data due to the suit, but a lower court tossed the case in February due to lack of standing. Three days after the plaintiffs appealed directly to the state Supreme Court, Evnen turned the information over Feb. 12. The court did not hear the matter until March 31.

The DOJ began seeking voter information last year, part of a nationwide effort to collect the data, reportedly with a goal of sharing it with immigration officials to determine if noncitizens are unlawfully registered and voting. At least 48 states and Washington D.C. received requests, according to the Brennan Center for Justice.

The DOJ’s demand has been litigated extensively, with Democratic states fighting the effort in court, citing privacy concerns. Some GOP-dominated states have also pushed back, while others have cooperated.

Plaintiffs in Nebraska sued in Lancaster County District Court, where the state capital Lincoln is located, claiming officials could not legally share the information.

During argument in front of the state Supreme Court, Nebraska defended sending in the data, telling justices it didn’t give the feds any new information.

“The only thing that comes close would be the state’s driver’s license number," Cody Barnett, the Cornhusker State’s solicitor general, told justices. “But Social Security numbers, the federal government generates those.”

Nebraska attorney Daniel Gutman, representing plaintiffs, argued the disclosure of voters’ full names, addresses, dates of birth and driver’s license numbers actually did give the feds information they did not already possess.

“It’s the compilation of data. It’s the profile of a person," Gutman said. “The federal government has an entire profile of our clients, which state law doesn’t contemplate that they would have.”

Barnett argued the case was mooted. “This court resolves live controversies, not abstract legal questions," he said.

Gutman said the case was subject to judicial review.

“This is not a hypothetical pre-enforcement challenge. It has been done. And it carries the force of law," he said.

All seven justices were appointed by Republican governors in a conservative state. They quizzed attorneys for both sides extensively, though Gutman seemed more often to be at the receiving end.

This was not the first time federal officials have sought Nebraska’s voting data. In 2017, during President Donald Trump’s first term, his Presidential Commission on Election Integrity sought information — including party affiliation — across the country, including in Nebraska. The secretary of state at the time, John Gale, did not turn over the data.

Gale, a longtime GOP official in the Cornhusker State, said he believed it was unlikely the commission would follow state law in using the data.

Trump has repeatedly made claims without evidence that scores of immigrants without legal status vote in U.S. elections. Various studies have found that to be extremely rare. A study of the 2016 election by the Brennan Center for Justice found just 0.0001% of the 23.5 million votes cast in 42 jurisdictions surveyed were suspected incidents of noncitizen voting.

Handing over the data in February does not seem to have helped Evnen much politically. In the GOP primary in May, Omaha businessman Scott Petersen defeated Evnen, who was running for his third term, in a campaign revolving around election integrity issues Petersen raised.

Outgoing Nebraska GOP Congressman Don Bacon has described Petersen as a leader of “the TinFoil Hat Club,” according to the nonprofit news organization Nebraska Examiner.

Democrat Sarah Slattery will likely face an uphill battle against Petersen this fall, in a state where the number of eligible GOP voters is nearly twice that of Democrats.

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