Background

The Cato Institute is the pre-eminent libertarian policy organisation in the United States, founded in 1977 in San Francisco by Charles Koch, Murray Rothbard and Edward Crane and now headquartered in Washington DC. It is formally non-partisan, backing free markets and minimal government on economic questions while supporting civil liberties, immigration reform and criminal justice reform in ways that sometimes align it with Democrats and sometimes with Republicans.

Cato weighed in on the DOJ's national voter-data programme ahead of the 9th Circuit's first appellate hearing on the issue, arguing on 19 May 2026 that the programme lacks statutory authority. That statutory-gap reasoning gained its first appellate endorsement on 24 June 2026, when a Sixth Circuit panel ruled 2-1 in United States v. Benson that the Civil Rights Act of 1960 could not authorise the DOJ's demand for Michigan's unredacted voter rolls, a ruling that also binds Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee.

Cato's involvement reflects the think tank's decade-long interest in election law and federalism; it has filed amicus briefs in major voting-rights cases and its scholars have testified before Congress on voter-ID, redistricting and census methodology. Its consistent position, that federal election law should not be used to compel states to hand over voter data beyond what statutes explicitly authorise, has now been adopted in eight district-court dismissals and the Sixth Circuit's first appellate ruling.

Common Questions

What is the Cato Institute's position on the DOJ voter data programme?

Cato argues the DOJ voter-data programme lacks statutory authority, reasoning that a Sixth Circuit panel endorsed on 24 June 2026 when it ruled 2-1 that the Civil Rights Act of 1960 could not authorise the DOJ's demand for Michigan's voter rolls.Source: Lowdown reporting

Is the Cato Institute Republican or Democrat?

Cato is formally non-partisan and libertarian. It takes conservative positions on economic issues and liberal ones on civil liberties, immigration, and criminal justice — sometimes aligning with both parties and neither.

When was the Cato Institute founded?

The Cato Institute was founded in 1977 in San Francisco by Charles Koch, Murray Rothbard, and Edward Crane. It moved its headquarters to Washington DC in 1981.Source: Wikipedia

Has any court agreed with Cato's DOJ voter-data critique?

Yes. On 24 June 2026 a Sixth Circuit panel became the first appellate court to endorse the reasoning, ruling 2-1 in United States v. Benson that the DOJ could not use the Civil Rights Act of 1960 to demand Michigan's unredacted voter rolls.Source: Lowdown reporting

Source Material

Cato Institute — Wikipedia Cato Institute — official website

How the World Sees Them

Democratic Party

Cato's involvement is selective: it opposes federal voter-data collection but did not oppose voter-ID laws that similarly restrict access. The libertarian framing masks asymmetric application.

Republican Party

Cato's statutory-gap analysis provides independent intellectual cover for the DOJ dismissals, lending legitimacy to arguments that would otherwise read as partisan.

Election law scholars

Cato's analysis of the DOJ programme's failure to cite a specific statutory grant is legally precise, regardless of its political uses. Courts have adopted identical reasoning in six dismissals.