In brief
A federal judge in Oregon has dismissed a lawsuit from the Justice Department that sought access to unredacted voter rolls. U.S. District Judge Mustafa Kasubhai's decision follows arguments from Oregon's Attorney General, who asserted that the federal government did not meet legal standards necessary for such a request. This ruling aligns with previous cases where similar federal requests were rejected, raising concerns over privacy and appropriate voter data access.
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A federal judge in Oregon dismissed a Justice Department lawsuit seeking unredacted voter rolls on Monday, a notable defeat amidst ongoing efforts by the Trump administration to obtain detailed voter information from various states.
U.S. District Judge Mustafa Kasubhai stated his intent to issue a formal opinion in the coming days, affirming Oregon's request for dismissal of the case.
Oregon's Attorney General, Dan Rayfield, expressed satisfaction with the ruling, emphasizing, “The court dismissed this case because the federal government never met the legal standard to get these records in the first place. Oregonians deserve to know that voting laws can’t be used as a backdoor to grab their personal information.”
The Justice Department declined to comment on the ruling.
This decision follows a request from U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi asking Minnesota's governor to support measures that would allow federal access to state voter rolls, in connection with a broader request for information regarding the state's compliance with federal regulations on voter registrations.
The Justice Department's attempts aim to access personal voter data, including names, dates of birth, and partial Social Security numbers, which many states argue would infringe on privacy laws.
Among the ongoing challenges to these efforts, recent rulings in Georgia and California have reflected a growing rejection of federal overreach into state-controlled electoral processes, raising alarms about the potential misuse of sensitive voter data.
In this latest case, Oregon officials responded that the Justice Department lacked the legislative authority to demand such voter records, offering only publicly available lists instead, highlighting ongoing tensions between state privacy protections and federal data requests.
