The U.S. Department of Justice sued the state of Oregon and Secretary of State Tobias Read in September 2025, alleging violations of federal elections laws after the state failed to provide an unredacted copy of its voter list.
Federal officials sought personal information for all voters, including full names, dates of birth, residential addresses, driver's license numbers, and partial Social Security numbers.
Read rejected the request, saying it would violate Oregonians’ privacy and that the federal government lacked authority to demand the data. Oregon instead offered a redacted voter list — already available to the public — that includes names, addresses, political party affiliation and birth years, but excludes more sensitive information.
On Jan. 14, U.S. District Judge Mustafa Kasubhai issued a tentative oral ruling signaling his intent to dismiss the lawsuit, agreeing that federal law does not require states to turn over personally identifiable voter information. A final written decision is pending.
Read praised the ruling.
"The federal government tried to abuse their power to force me to break my oath of office and hand over your private data," he said. "We proved, once again, we have the power to push back and win."
Days before the federal government filed it's lawsuit, a Justice Department spokesperson told Stateline that the department was sharing voter data with Homeland Security to look for noncitizens and “scrub aliens from voter rolls.”
Read also defended Oregon’s vote-by-mail system against federal criticism, arguing those attacks undermine election access and accountability.
Guest
- Tobias Read, Oregon Secretary of State
