The top elections officials from 10 states, including Oregon, sent a letter to the Trump administration. They’re demanding answers about how voter data is being used and shared.

“We write to express our immense concern with recent reporting that the Department of Justice (DOJ) has shared voter data with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS),” the letter reads, “and to seek clarity on whether DOJ and DHS actively misled election officials regarding the uses of voter data.”

Oregon Secretary of State Tobias Read is one of the signatories. He spoke with “All Things Considered” host Geoff Norcross on Wednesday, Nov. 19.

Geoff Norcross: What specifically do you want to know?

Tobias Read: We want to know what this information is being used for, what checks and safety plans are in place to keep this information private and secure. It’s private information. It’s driver’s license numbers. It’s full dates of birth. It’s partial Social Security numbers, the kinds of things that people can use to conduct identity theft. The federal government does not have the authority for this, and they have not been clear about what they’re using it for or how they’re going to keep it secure. Oregonians deserve to know how their private voter information is being used.

Norcross: Did you get a response?

Read: We have not gotten that response. We were clear in our letter that we would like a response by the first of December. We’ve not had a response so far.

Norcross: What are you anticipating to hear back, if anything?

Read: This administration has not been consistent in their information. They’ve not been particularly responsive, so I’m not especially optimistic about this. What I am confident about and optimistic about is that we will use every tool at our disposal to make sure that we are protecting this private information and protecting the rights of Oregonians to privacy. I know that’s true for the other secretaries of state that have been part of this letter as well. And so we’re standing up for the citizens we represent. We are taking our obligations seriously and we’re not going to let go of that.

Norcross: When the Department of Justice has this data, they’re sharing it with DHS for its Systemic Alien Verification for Entitlements database, also known as SAVE. And the Trump administration has expanded that law into a voter citizenship confirmation system that combines data from various federal agencies. So does this seem to you like a voter integrity issue or an immigration issue?

Read: That’s the right question to be asking because they have been unclear and inconsistent in how they are planning to use this information. On top of that, this is not an administration that has been very committed to protecting the integrity of this kind of data and the privacy of this kind of data. So we don’t have consistency, we don’t have rigor, we don’t have any of these kinds of things when it comes to this information. And on top of that, again, they don’t have the authority to ask for this.

Remember, we told the folks who asked for information from us that they were entitled to the same public information as anyone else, if they want to fill out the form and pay the fee. They’ve not done that. They’ve demanded all this other kind of information and not been consistent with how they’re going to use it. They’ve not told us how they’re going to protect the privacy of that information. And so we have real concerns. There are a lot of unanswered questions. That’s why we sent this letter and why we hope to hear back from the federal government.

Norcross: I think I know what you’re alluding to there, that the administration had requested that you hand over this information in August, and you refused. Also, the president, it has to be said, doesn’t like vote-by-mail, which we do exclusively here in Oregon. I’m wondering if you’re concerned that your advocacy on this issue might embolden him to go after our system even harder.

Read: Look, my job as Secretary of State is really clear, and that is to protect the right of every eligible Oregonian to hold the government accountable, to express their wishes through the fundamental American right of voting. And we do this in Oregon in a way that makes it convenient for eligible people to do that. That’s why we lead the nation in turnout, and that’s a good thing because it’s more likely that Oregon’s government is going to reflect the views of Oregonians. We’ve been doing this for 25 years. We know what works in Oregon. We are the gold standard when it comes to elections, and we’ll hold that up against anyone.

Norcross: Let’s just back up and assume for the moment that this federal push for voter data is a good faith effort to ensure that only those people who are allowed to vote may vote. From an election integrity standpoint, why shouldn’t the states participate in this effort to ensure that the voter rolls are clean and that they only have eligible voters on them?

Read: Well, if that were the case, then they would be responding to our concerns about how they’re going to protect this data. They would be consistent in saying how they are going to use the information, neither of which is true thus far. I think the fact that they did not respond to our reply, in which we said, ‘You can have the same public information that anyone else can if you respond to this.’ Their response to that offer was a lawsuit. So I think the sincerity of this effort can easily be questioned by the sequence in our exchange.

News Source : https://www.opb.org/article/2025/11/20/oregon-voter-data-secretary-of-state-tobias-read-politics/