The DOJ has sued California over voter roll data, claiming federal law (HAVA/NVRA) gives it authority to demand unredacted voter registration information. California is citing state privacy laws as its reason for declining. However, a federal judge already ruled against the DOJ in this dispute. The court dismissed the lawsuit, finding that the DOJ lacked the legal authority to compel California to hand over the unredacted data. The judge sided with California's position that states have primary authority over election administration. The court also found the DOJ hadn't established a solid factual basis for making these demands in the first place. So while it's true that California has declined to provide what the DOJ requested and that the two sides are invoking different laws, framing this as California simply stonewalling misses the key point: the courts have already weighed in and rejected the DOJ's legal argument. This is a contested dispute where the judiciary has sided with the state.