DOJ Sues Oregon, Maine Over Voter Registration Lists

The Department of Justice said Tuesday it sued the states of Oregon and Maine over what it described as their failure to provide information regarding voter list maintenance procedures and electronic copies of statewide voter registration lists.

The department said in a statement that the two states had violated the National Voter Registration Act, the Help America Vote Act and the Civil Rights Act, federal laws that regulate voter registration and access.

"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," Harmeet Dhillon, the head of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division, said in a statement.

"It is absurd that the Department of Justice is targeting our state when Republican and Democratic Secretaries all across the country are fighting back against this federal abuse of power just like we are," Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, a Democrat who oversees elections in the state, said in a statement.

A spokesperson for the Oregon secretary of state did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

DOJ's Civil Rights Division has in the last several months sent requests for voter registration-related information to at least 24 states, including requesting a complete list of all registered voters from at least 22 states. The Justice Department is in talks with Homeland Security Investigations about transferring the sensitive voter roll data for use in criminal and immigration-related investigations, Reuters reported last week.

Legal experts have raised privacy concerns about the federal government's demands for voter information and its possible disclosure to HSI. President Donald Trump and his allies have for years spread claims that immigrants living illegally in the United States are voting in large numbers.

The lawsuit against Maine comes days after the Republican National Committee filed a complaint with the DOJ alleging Bellows released insufficient information about how the state maintains its voter rolls.

The lawsuits allege both states failed to provide unredacted electronic copies of each state's voter registration list and other information about actions taken to remove ineligible voters.