The U.S. Department of Justice is suing the state of Oregon, accusing its leaders of violating federal law by failing to abide by the Trump administration’s demands to provide information about its voters.

The federal government accuses Oregon and Secretary of State Tobias Read of “failing to provide information regarding voter list maintenance procedures and electronic copies of statewide voter registration lists,” a Tuesday press release said. It also sued the state of Maine and its secretary of state.

“States simply cannot pick and choose which federal laws they will comply with, including our voting laws, which ensure that all American citizens have equal access to the ballot in federal elections,” Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division said in a statement.

The lawsuit, filed Tuesday, is the latest action by President Donald Trump’s administration to curb what they see as voter fraud. In August, the administration sent requests to Read’s office asking for the state to provide voter information and prove that it’s taking steps to root out ineligible voters.

“American citizens have a right to feel confident in the integrity of our electoral process, and the refusal of certain states to protect their citizens against vote dilution will result in legal consequences,” Dhillon’s statement said.

Some of the information the government sought was sensitive, including a list of elections officials, registered voters and the names and voting history of people who’d been deemed ineligible to vote. Read balked at the August request, saying he would only provide information that was legally required.

A Democrat and the state’s top elections official, Read has accused the president of trying to interfere with state elections.

“If the President wants to use the DOJ to go after his political opponents and undermine our elections, I look forward to seeing them in court,” Read said in a statement Tuesday. “I stand by my oath to the people of Oregon, and I will protect their rights and privacy.”

The administration alleges Oregon violated multiple federal laws: the National Voter Registration Act, the Help America Vote Act, the Civil Rights Act of 1960. Oregon did so “by refusing to produce the current unredacted electronic copy of the state’s voter registration list, to provide information on the state’s voter list maintenance program, and to disclose registration information for any ineligible voters,” the Tuesday press release said.

“Yet both states gave identical information requested by the Justice Department to a private organization,” the release said, without specifying the organization.

Several news outlets have reported that the Justice Department may be planning to compare that data with information held by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for criminal and immigration investigations.

The president also recently pledged to end mail-in voting throughout the country, asserting without evidence that it leads to dishonest elections. Oregon has used the system for decades without any instances of widespread voter fraud. Read has stood by the system, saying it’s secure and leads to high turnout in elections.

A review of Oregon’s vote-by-mail system by the state’s Legislative Fiscal Office found 38 criminal convictions of voter fraud out of the 61 million ballots cast from 2000 through 2019.

Oregon’s elections system has been criticized repeatedly by state Republican leaders over the past year as the state revealed that its Motor Voter Program erroneously added more than 1,600 possible noncitizens to voter rolls. The program automatically registers people to vote when they get a new driver’s license.

There are more than three million registered voters in Oregon.

A spokesperson for Gov. Tina Kotek did not immediately return a request for comment on the lawsuit.

News Source : https://www.opb.org/article/2025/09/16/oregon-politics-donald-trump-lawsuit-voting-voter-data/