U.S. District Judge Victoria Marie Calvert dismissed the Justice Department’s lawsuit Wednesday, blocking the Trump administration from obtaining Georgia’s complete voter registration database from Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger.

The ruling marks the Justice Department’s 26th court defeat in its nationwide effort to obtain unredacted voter information from states. Federal officials have argued that access to the records is necessary to enforce federal requirements for maintaining accurate voter rolls.

The records sought by the department included sensitive information such as voters’ full dates of birth, driver’s license numbers and portions of Social Security numbers.

Raffensperger had already provided the federal government with the publicly available version of Georgia’s voter list but refused to turn over information that Georgia law treats as confidential.

Calvert, a Biden appointee, ruled that Title III of the Civil Rights Act of 1960 does not preempt Georgia’s voter privacy protections. She also found that neither the National Voter Registration Act nor the Help America Vote Act requires Georgia to disclose the sensitive information sought by the Justice Department.

The judge further noted that Georgia had demonstrated it could comply with federal voter-roll maintenance requirements without handing over the confidential information.

“The Court is not persuaded by any of Plaintiff’s arguments,” Calvert wrote in the 23-page ruling.

Raffensperger welcomed the decision, saying Georgia would continue cooperating with federal officials while protecting voters’ private information.

“I will always protect the sensitive personal information of Georgians, in accordance with the law and the Constitution,” Raffensperger said. “I will not give in and break the law for anyone. Period.”

The Justice Department has pursued similar voter-roll requests across the country as part of its effort to examine whether states are complying with federal election laws governing voter-list maintenance. According to reporting on the litigation, the department has faced court resistance in cases involving dozens of states.

Georgia has now rejected the department’s request twice in court. The first lawsuit was dismissed in January after a judge determined the case had been filed in the wrong federal district. The Justice Department subsequently refiled the case in the Northern District of Georgia, where Raffensperger's office is located.

The latest ruling comes shortly after the Supreme Court allowed the Trump administration to continue using the Department of Homeland Security’s SAVE system while separate litigation proceeds. The system allows participating states to verify citizenship and immigration information when checking voter eligibility.

The administration has defended expanded use of SAVE as an election-integrity measure. The Justice Department has not yet given up its effort to obtain Georgia’s unredacted voter information and is reviewing Calvert’s decision, with officials indicating an appeal is likely.