Federal Court Sides with Oregon, Secretary of State Read in Voter Data Privacy Case

Today, for the second time in less than a week, a federal court sided with the State of Oregon and Oregon Secretary of State Tobias Read against the Trump Administration. This time, U.S. District Court Judge Mustafa Kasubhai issued a tentative ruling from the bench granting Oregon’s motion to dismiss a lawsuit that was filed last September by the Trump Administration’s Justice Department.

“This is a big win for Oregonians’ privacy and the rule of law. The federal government tried to abuse their power to force me to break my oath of office and hand over your private data. I stood up to them and said no. Now, the court sided with us. Tonight, we proved, once again, we have the power to push back and win,” said Secretary Read.

The lawsuit is part of the federal government’s nationwide effort to obtain voters’ private, highly sensitive information, including full dates of birth, partial Social Security numbers, and complete driver’s license numbers. The federal government filed similar lawsuits against 21 other states and Washington D.C., which means Oregon’s victory could have ramifications for voter privacy across the country.

Oregon filed a motion to have the case dismissed, arguing that federal voting laws, including the National Voter Registration Act, the Help America Vote Act, and the Civil Rights Act, do not require states to provide highly sensitive voter information to the federal government. The federal court agreed, pending a written decision.