What’s in a voter registration list?
If you’re registered to vote, you’re on a list. Each state maintains its own variation of a voter list, but they typically contain your name, address, party affiliation, or other personal information, depending on your state. Since last July, the DOJ requested voter records from dozens of states. So: what’s actually in these lists, and how are they used? Let’s look at the data.
- Voter lists are usually associated with voter registration, which is required in every state except North Dakota.
- Washington, DC, and all states (yes, even North Dakota) keep a voter’s name, address, and date of birth on file. Phone number, driver’s license number, and email address are also common pieces of personal information states and DC retain in voter records.
- As of January 2026, 32 states and Washington, DC, require voters’ party affiliation on their voter registration. The affiliations are also kept in voter files.
- Federal law dictates how states manage their voter lists. The National Voter Registration Act of 1993 requires states to keep accurate, up-to-date lists. The Help America Vote Act of 2002 required states to create computerized statewide voter registration and establish procedures to verify voter information.
- The DOJ has requested full lists, including private information (such as the last four digits of a person’s Social Security number), saying it intends to ensure states are complying with federal requirements to update voter rolls. As of this writing, 29 states and Washington, DC, have not complied. Some state officials have cited concerns about sharing residents’ personal information and argued that they already maintain voter records effectively.
Ask an Analyst: Decoding donor states
States contribute to the federal budget primarily through residents’ federal taxes and through business taxes on local industries. In return, states expect federal support via programs such as Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (or CHIP), transportation and education funding, and contracts and grants to local businesses and nonprofits, plus direct monetary support to residents.
Data analysts Chris and Darcy wanted to know: Which states send more to the federal government than they get back? In other words, what are the donor states? And which states get more than they send?
- To understand federal revenue from states, they started, naturally, with the IRS. Turns out 38% of that revenue came from the four most populous states: California (15.9% of the total), Texas (8.2%), New York (7.6%), and Florida (6.4%). Per person, Massachusetts sent the most ($21,933), followed by Nebraska ($21,922).
- But they also ran into skewed data. On the federal spending side of things, it looked like the government was spending over $100,000 on every North Dakotan and less than $40,000 on everyone else. Then they found a Medicare contractor in North Dakota that handles claims and payments for people in several states. But these federal payments going into one state distorted the data.
- After some data detangling, they determined that there were 19 “donor” states in FY 2024. Nebraska and Minnesota had the highest net per-person contributions to the federal budget at $9,531 and $8,702, respectively.
- The other 31 states took in more than they contributed. New Mexico and Alaska had some of the highest differences, receiving $15,448 and $14,965 more back per person than they sent. See the article that resulted from their efforts here.
Data behind the news
The Pentagon has ordered about 2,000 soldiers from the Army’s 82nd Airborne Division to the Middle East. But it’s difficult to look at government data and determine where troops are deployed—and it’s not just because the information is slow to update.
A LaGuardia runway collisionbetween a plane and a firetruck that killed two pilots has people wondering about the safety of air travel and air traffic controllers’ workloads.
Get ready: It’s time for the weekly fact quiz.
One last fact
The average annual labor force participation rate decreased slightly to 62.4% in 2025 after remaining unchanged from 2023 to 2024. This rate is the percentage of the population ages 16 and older who are either employed or actively seeking work. It’s been trending downward since 2000 due to the nation’s aging population.
