Significant setback for the Trump Administration’s nationwide litigation campaign targeting voter data
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Following a hearing in Eugene, Oregon, on Wednesday, a federal judge indicated he will dismiss the U.S. Department of Justice’s lawsuit seeking to compel Oregon to turn over the sensitive personal information of more than 3 million registered voters. U.S. District Court Judge Mustafa Kasubhai issued a tentative ruling from the bench, stating that he intends to grant the motions to dismiss the case. A written opinion is expected to follow.
Elias Law Group represents the nonprofit organization Our Oregon and three Oregon voters who successfully intervened in the case to defend voter privacy alongside the state.
“This tentative ruling is a major setback for the Trump Administration’s dangerous campaign to seize voters’ most private information,” said Elias Law Group partner Abha Khanna. “Federal law does not give the Department of Justice the authority to demand unredacted voter files containing Social Security numbers, driver’s license numbers, and full dates of birth, and the Trump Administration has completely failed to justify their outrageous demands. We are proud to stand alongside Our Oregon and Oregon voters in defense of voter privacy and the rights of states to administer their own elections.”
During the hearing, Judge Kasubhai expressed skepticism about the DOJ’s arguments, questioning whether an unredacted voter list would actually help the government in its investigation of a potential violation of federal voting laws. He also rejected the DOJ’s reliance on the Civil Rights Act, noting that the law was enacted to protect voters from discrimination, not to enable mass data collection: “I can appreciate that the context in which the Civil Rights Act was promulgated was because of the historical exclusion of people on the basis of race from voting,” he said. “And so I think exclusion was the primary consideration, not over-inclusion.”
The Department of Justice sued Oregon in September 2025 after the state declined to hand over its full, unredacted voter registration list. The lawsuit was one of more than 20 filed by the Trump Administration against states that refused to comply with the DOJ’s unprecedented demands for sensitive voter data.
Elias Law Group has moved to intervene on behalf of voters and pro-voting organizations in all of the DOJ’s voter data lawsuits.
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