EXCLUSIVE: Commonsense Prevails in Massachusetts Voter Roll Transparency Case
In major win for election integrity, a federal judge rules in favor of Voter Reference Foundation.
A federal judge in Massachusetts has delivered a significant legal victory for election transparency, ordering Massachusetts to turn over the state's complete voter registration list to Voter Reference Foundation (VRF) in a move that offers voters the voter transparency that federal law requires.
On March 27, Chief Judge Denise Casper of the District of Massachusetts granted summary judgment in favor of VRF in its lawsuit against Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth William Galvin, who was attempting to block public access to voter rolls.
VRF, a subsidiary of Restoration of America, publishes voter registration data in 42 states and the District of Columbia to the public free of charge.
This case focused on whether the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) obliged Massachusetts to provide VRF with direct access to its statewide voter rolls. Galvin admitted that federal law required the records to be made available but threw up a roadblock, claiming that VRF must submit separate public records requests to each of the Commonwealth's 351 local election officials instead of obtaining the information directly from his office.
A key problem with this approach centered on Galvin’s practice of playing favorites. When his political allies requested the same data, he provided it directly but demanded VRF jump through 351 hoops.
Judge Casper flatly rejected that bureaucratic chicanery.
She found that the Secretary alone has the authority and ability to produce a complete statewide voter list and that redirecting requesters to hundreds of local offices does not satisfy federal requirements.
In doing so, the court also rejected Galvin's claim that VRF lacked standing to bring the suit. Casper found that VRF suffered concrete injuries when he refused to comply with federal law because those injuries are tied directly to the NVRA's core purposes, which include election integrity, list accuracy, and increasing voter participation.
The court explicitly rebuffed the argument that VRF's status as an out-of-state nonprofit organization diminished its standing, a contention that has been raised in similar litigation elsewhere.
She declared that the statewide voter list and related data requested by VRF constitute NVRA "records" that must be disclosed and ordered him to produce them to VRF.
As the prevailing party, VRF is also entitled to seek attorneys' fees, costs, and expenses, with any such motion due by April 23, 2026.
"This is yet another victory for us from courts who recognize federal law requires transparency of voter rolls," said Doug Truax, founder and CEO of Restoration of America, VRF's parent organization. "We won't stop until all 50 states make their voter rolls easily available to the public."
The Massachusetts ruling follows a similar VRF victory in New Mexico, which was subsequently upheld by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit.
Judge Casper’s ruling marks a key victory in the fight for voter transparency. Voters deserve to know who is registered to vote, and federal law guarantees them access to this. VRF facilitates this by providing a single platform where citizens can check voter rolls for registration and turnout discrepancies, keeping their local government honest.
FREE ELECTIONS, FREE REPUBLIC:
COMMENTARY: DOUG TRUAX—The SAVE Act Will Save Our Elections
VOTER ID: The SAVE America Act Needs a Showdown, Not a Shortcut
VIRGINIA: Democrats to Mandate Machine Ballot Counting in a Blow to Election Integrity
NEWS: A Surprising Triumph for Election Integrity on the Left Coast
We're on the frontlines of the culture war—fund the fight today
Restoration News, a project of Restoration of America, is your trusted investigative news source for the America First movement. As a rapidly growing conservative news site, we focus on delivering accurate and insightful exposés on political news, immigration news, leftist lies, and other pressing issues affecting everyday Americans. Our uncompromising commitment to a hard-hitting, fact-based, America First, and faithful perspective ensures that you receive news that aligns with your values.
Every dollar gets us closer to winning the war on woke
