State of Oregon

Oregon Voter Roll Maintenance Records Challenge

Public Interest Legal Foundation v. Read

Lawsuit filed by Public Interest Legal Foundation (PILF) against Oregon Secretary of State Tobias Read (D) challenging Oregon’s voter roll maintenance records-keeping practices under the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA). 

As a member of the Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC), Oregon receives “deceased reports” detailing a list of voters who may be deceased and should subsequently be removed from state voter rolls. ERIC also issues “retraction reports” to correct erroneous mistakes in previous deceased reports and ensure voters are not unfairly removed from voter rolls. In the spring of 2024, PILF contacted the secretary of state’s office to request copies of ERIC retraction reports. A member of the office informed PILF that the office could not provide copies of the retraction reports because it does not retain them. On May 9, 2024, PILF notified the secretary of state’s office that it was in violation of the NVRA and gave them 20 days to provide the relevant records. The secretary of state’s office never provided the records. 

PILF argues that the secretary of state’s failure to maintain these records violates Section 8 of the NVRA, which requires states to maintain all their records related to voter roll maintenance for at least two years and make those records available to the public upon request. PILF asks the court to rule that the secretary of state’s office has violated the NVRA and order his office to provide PILF with the records it requested.

STATUS: PILF filed its complaint on Jan. 29, 2025. The Oregon secretary of state has not responded yet.

Case Documents

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