Bynum, Oregon Delegation Demand Reversal of Trump Administration's Plan to Suppress Oregon Voters

Yesterday, Representatives Janelle Bynum (OR-05), Suzanne Bonamici, Andrea Salinas, Val Hoyle, Maxine Dexter, and Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley sent a letter to the Trump Administration, urging the administration to withdraw its threat against Oregon election officials over its plan to create a national voter database, warning that the proposal could jeopardize the voter registrations of millions of Oregonians.

"It is clear that after these attempts to secure access to sensitive state voter data have been repeatedly rejected by the courts, you are resorting to public threats of prosecution and intimidation against elections administrators to coerce state officials to turn over their voter rolls and cede their constitutional duty to conduct elections to the executive branch," the lawmakers wrote in their letter to Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche.

The demand comes after the Trump administration threatened Oregon election officials with criminal prosecution over the administration's claim of noncitizens voting. For months, Trump has tried to chip away at voter registration and vote-by-mail in an effort to interfere in the consequential November midterms.

Earlier this year, Trump issued an executive order requiring the creation of a national voter database, which would require states to submit their voter registration lists to the federal government for review. The order was put on pause after it was blocked in court. Trump continues to push passage of his Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act in Congress, which would undermine vote-by-mail in an illegal and unconstitutional effort to undermine the rights of states to control their own election systems.

Last month, Oregon lawmakers led the charge against a new rule issued by the U.S. Postal Service that would undermine Oregon's vote-by-mail system.

Text of the letter can be found here and below.

We rebuke your threats against Oregon elections officials and demand the Department of

Justice (DOJ) cease this targeted witch hunt of states' election administration ahead of

consequential midterm elections.

On July 7, 2026, the most recent threat was issued by Assistant Attorney General for Civil

Rights Harmeet Dhillon and comes following repeated failures by the DOJ to illegally

attempt to obtain Oregon voter rolls containing sensitive voter information through litigation

in order to create an unprecedented national voter database. It is clear that after these

attempts to secure access to sensitive state voter data have been repeatedly rejected by the

courts, the DOJ is resorting to public threats of prosecution and intimidation against elections

administrators in order to coerce state officials to turn over their voter rolls and cede their

constitutional duty to conduct elections to the executive branch.

Election officials across the country are on the frontlines of our elections, they already face

unprecedented attacks and face personal safety concerns. We should be working to protect

election officials regardless of political affiliation, not using government resources to further

intimidate election officials that are following all federal laws, and consistently administering

elections that are safe and secure, as is the case in Oregon.

These efforts are a direct attempt to undermine vote-by-mail, which is used successfully by

tens of millions of eligible voters every election. Despite these efforts, the courts have also

repeatedly blocked implementation of President Trump's executive orders that aim to restrict

vote-by-mail. Faced with these combined failures, the DOJ is now attempting to coerce state

elections officials with threats of prosecution in order to prevent Americans from voting.

These threats are a clear pattern in strategy to disenfranchise millions of voters in Oregon and

nationwide and attack states' constitutional right to manage and oversee elections. We

demand that you immediately cease these efforts.

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