DOJ Loses 2 Voter-Roll Cases; Nevada Calls It 22nd Win

KEMETIC MINDS
Civil Rights Watch — Daily Update — August 19, 2026

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The Justice Department’s push for unredacted state voter rolls has absorbed two more federal-court losses — judges in Minnesota and Nevada both ruled the Civil Rights Act does not force states to surrender the data (Law Commentary, 2026; Pvtimes, 2026). Delaware became the 12th state to enact a state-level voting rights act, and a Manhattan man now faces federal hate crime charges for a Shabbat attack at Central Synagogue (Ballotpedia, 2026; New York Daily News, 2026). Here is what happened, what remains contested, and how to check the record yourself.

• Minnesota ruling: U.S. District Judge Katherine Menendez dismissed the DOJ suit for the state’s full voter database, holding that the Civil Rights Act of 1960 and HAVA do not compel unredacted records (Law Commentary, 2026).
• Nevada ruling: U.S. District Judge Anne R. Traum granted the state’s motion to dismiss, and Secretary of State Francisco Aguilar called Nevada the “22nd consecutive state or jurisdiction to prevail” in district court (Pvtimes, 2026).
• New state law: Delaware became the 12th state to enact a state-level voting rights act, while Ballotpedia says it is now tracking 4,632 election-related bills nationwide (Ballotpedia, 2026).
• Federal hate crime charges: Larry Montes, 46, faces two hate crime counts and a religious-property damage charge for the Central Synagogue attack (New York Daily News, 2026).
• Unproven motive: Nevada’s attorney general said news reports suggest the requested data could have been shared with DHS for immigration enforcement — a rationale the DOJ has not commented on (Pvtimes, 2026).

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1. Civil Rights & Voting Rights

U.S. District Judge Katherine Menendez on Monday dismissed the Justice Department’s lawsuit seeking Minnesota’s complete, unredacted voter registration database, ruling that neither the Civil Rights Act of 1960 nor the Help America Vote Act requires the state to turn it over (Law Commentary, 2026). The suit named Minnesota and Secretary of State Steve Simon as the parties the government sought to compel (Law Commentary, 2026).

The DOJ had demanded voters’ full names, dates of birth, residential addresses, the last four digits of Social Security numbers, and full state driver’s license numbers — data Minnesota law keeps off the public version of its statewide list (Law Commentary, 2026). State law lets a public information list carry names, addresses, years of birth, and voting histories, but excludes sensitive identifiers (Law Commentary, 2026).

The case turned on Title III of the Civil Rights Act, which allows the Attorney General to demand access to voting and registration records that “come into” an election official’s possession (Law Commentary, 2026). Menendez concluded that wording covers records officials receive — not the broader reading the government advanced to justify demanding the entire central database (Law Commentary, 2026).

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2. Bills Proposed & Legislation

Delaware became the 12th state to enact a state-level voting rights act, Ballotpedia reported in its weekly election policy digest (Ballotpedia, 2026). Lawmakers in three states acted on 31 election-related bills last week: one was enacted, four passed both chambers, and none were vetoed (Ballotpedia, 2026).

Of those actions, 28 (90.3%) were in states with Democratic trifectas, none were in Republican trifecta states, and three (9.7%) were in divided governments (Ballotpedia, 2026). Ballotpedia says it is currently tracking 4,632 election-related bills across the country (Ballotpedia, 2026).

The lone enactment was North Carolina’s H 834, signed Aug. 11 by Gov. Josh Stein (D), which extends the window to correct incomplete voter registration information from the third business day after an election to noon on the fifth business day (Ballotpedia, 2026). The law also specifies that provisional ballots count if registrations are cured by the deadline, and it requires county boards to notify voters of missing signatures on provisional affidavits with cure instructions by the close of business the next business day after review (Ballotpedia, 2026).

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3. States’ Rights & Federalism

U.S. District Judge Anne R. Traum granted Nevada Secretary of State Francisco Aguilar’s motion to dismiss the DOJ lawsuit, which the department filed in December last year accusing the state of violating the Civil Rights Act by refusing to produce its voter registration database (Pvtimes, 2026). Traum ruled the state did not have to disclose the list and that the government failed to provide a “basis and purpose” to compel production (Pvtimes, 2026).

The dispute dates to June 25, 2025, when the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division requested “Nevada’s current statewide voter registration list” (Pvtimes, 2026). After the state pointed to its publicly available list, the DOJ called that response inadequate — even though Nevada law prohibits the list from including full names, dates of birth, residential addresses, driver’s license and Social Security numbers (Pvtimes, 2026).

Aguilar called the ruling “a victory for Nevada voters and their right to have their sensitive personal information protected,” adding that Nevada is now the “22nd consecutive state or jurisdiction to prevail in federal District Court” against the administration’s effort to obtain unredacted rolls (Pvtimes, 2026). The DOJ did not respond to a request for comment (Pvtimes, 2026).

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4. Hate Crimes

The man accused of attacking a woman and a security guard at Central Synagogue during Shabbat services Friday now faces federal hate crime charges in Manhattan: Larry Montes, 46, was charged with two counts of committing hate crimes and one count of damage to religious property resulting in bodily injury, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office (New York Daily News, 2026; The Guardian, 2026). Montes already faced state-level hate crime charges from the same incident (The Guardian, 2026).

Prosecutors allege Montes stood up about nine minutes into the service shouting “You know who the fuck I am!”, struck two ceremonial silver candlesticks with gold accents from the stage, and bent their bases (The Guardian, 2026). He then allegedly hit a 63-year-old woman, Michele Anaberg-Poma, splitting her lip and sending her crashing to the ground; she also suffered a forearm injury (New York Daily News, 2026; The Guardian, 2026). Montes then allegedly spat at and head-butted a 65-year-old Black security guard while yelling a racial slur (The Guardian, 2026). Part of the attack was visible on the synagogue’s Shabbat livestream (The Guardian, 2026).

In a post-arrest interview, Montes allegedly said “fuck the Jews … it’s racial” and “I will never affiliate with no filthy fucking synagogues, either here or in fucking Israel” (The Guardian, 2026). An NYPD sergeant assigned to the synagogue arrested him, and Montes faces a maximum of 20 years in prison if convicted on the top charge (The Guardian, 2026; New York Daily News, 2026).

Mayor Mamdani said he was “horrified” and pledged the city “will use every tool at our disposal to confront antisemitism and keep Jewish New Yorkers — and all New Yorkers — safe” (New York Daily News, 2026). The Simon Wiesenthal Center said attacks like this grow when antisemitism is ignored and “dismissed as exaggeration,” warning that “violence on Shabbat is never only about the victims in the room” (New York Daily News, 2026). Separately, Los Angeles District Attorney Nathan Hochman joined local law enforcement and advisory boards to announce an officewide priority on hate crime “prosecutions, community outreach and multi-agency collaboration” (Culver City Observer, 2026).

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What’s Disputed or Unconfirmed

The Central Synagogue case rests on a federal criminal complaint and prosecutors’ allegations — including statements attributed to Montes in a post-arrest interview — and Montes has not been tried or convicted (The Guardian, 2026; New York Daily News, 2026). The damage to the candlesticks, the physical blows, and the slurs are all alleged, not established by verdict.

The “22nd consecutive” win tally is Secretary of State Aguilar’s characterization of the federal rulings, not an independent count (Pvtimes, 2026). The DOJ’s motive for seeking Nevada’s data is also contested: the state attorney general cited news reports that it could be shared with the Department of Homeland Security for immigration enforcement, while the DOJ did not respond to a request for comment (Pvtimes, 2026).

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How to Verify This Yourself

• Read the rulings directly: search PACER or the federal district courts’ public dockets for the Minnesota case before Judge Katherine Menendez and the Nevada case before Judge Anne R. Traum (Law Commentary, 2026; Pvtimes, 2026).
• Check bill text and legislative status at congress.gov for federal measures, and review Ballotpedia’s election policy digest for Delaware’s voting rights act and North Carolina’s H 834 (Ballotpedia, 2026).
• Track the Montes prosecution through the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, and cross-check hate crime data with ADL and SPLC tracking resources (The Guardian, 2026; New York Daily News, 2026).

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References

1. Law Commentary. (2026, August 19). Federal Judge Dismisses DOJ Lawsuit Seeking Minnesota’s Unredacted Voter Rolls. lawcommentary.com
2. news.ballotpedia.org. (2026, August 18). Delaware becomes the 12th state to enact a state-level voting rights act. news.ballotpedia.org
3. Pvtimes. (2026, August 18). Court rejects DOJ lawsuit seeking Nevada voting records. pvtimes.com
4. The Guardian. (2026, August 18). Man accused of attacking duo at New York City synagogue charged with federal hate crimes. theguardian.com
5. Homeland Security Today. (2026, August 19). New York City Man Charged With Hate Crimes After Alleged Synagogue Assault. hstoday.us
6. Culver City Observer. (2026, August 19). District Attorney Hochman Cracks Down on Hate Crimes. culvercityobserver.com
7. New York Daily News. (2026, August 18). Man accused in Manhattan synagogue attack charged with federal hate crimes. nydailynews.com

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