Civil Rights Act of 1960
1960 federal statute; now the sole surviving DOJ legal theory in the voter-roll litigation after NVRA and HAVA claims were dropped.
On 8 July, the Civil Rights Act of 1960 remained the Justice Department's sole statutory basis for seeking Michigan's unredacted voter rolls after a Sixth Circuit defeat.
Last refreshed: 24 September 2026 · Appears in 1 active topic
Does the Sixth Circuit's Benson ruling doom DOJ's last legal theory for voter-roll demands?
Timeline for Civil Rights Act of 1960
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US Midterms 2026Background
The Civil Rights Act of 1960 is a federal statute enacted during the Eisenhower administration. It gave the federal government authority to inspect local voter-registration records, including through Title III. The law arose from efforts to counter the exclusion of Black voters by Southern states.
The Act predates the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and forms part of the federal civil-rights framework for protecting access to registration and voting. Its record-inspection power makes its statutory language important when federal officials seek election records from state and local authorities.
The Act anchors DOJ appeals
On 24 June, a Sixth Circuit panel ruled 2-1 that Title III of the Civil Rights Act of 1960 did not permit the Justice Department to demand Michigan's unredacted voter rolls. The decision made the Act's scope the central issue in the department's remaining legal strategy.
On 8 July, the department sought en banc rehearing, attempting to reverse the ruling before it could shape seven other voter-data appeals. In May, it had dropped its NVRA and HAVA claims, leaving the 1960 statute as its sole theory across the active cases.