Oregon Agrees to Review and Remove Up to 800,000 Voter Records After Federal Settlement

Nonprofit Judicial Watch secured a major settlement yesterday after Oregon state officials settled a federal lawsuit, committing to a massive review and cleanup of roughly 800,000 inactive voter records, including about 160,000 that already meet removal standards from the state’s voter registration lists.

800K Names To be removed After Oregon Voter Registration Act Settlement

Hailed as a significant win for election integrity by the conservative, non-profit organization that led the lawsuit, Judicial Watch announced the settlement following a legal battle initiated in October 2024, which mandates that the state enforce strict “clean-up” procedures as required by the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (NVRA).

The plaintiffs alleged that Oregon had systematically failed to maintain accurate voter rolls, arguing that 29 of the state’s 36 counties had removed almost no registrations in recent years.

Judicial Watch pointed to alarming data: Oregon and nearly all its counties had registration rates exceeding 100% of the eligible population, the highest inactive registration rate in the nation. This backlog was largely attributed to a breakdown in routine maintenance that began in 2017.

Under the new agreement, Oregon Secretary of State Tobias Read identified two distinct categories of inactive records slated for action:

• 160,000 Names: These records already meet federal and state criteria for immediate removal. These individuals failed to respond to confirmation notices and did not participate in the last two federal elections.
• 640,000 Names: These inactive records will remain under scrutiny and are slated for removal as they meet future legal requirements for cancellation.

Beyond the immediate removals, the settlement forces Oregon to operate with a new level of transparency.

For the next five years, the state must provide Judicial Watch and federal authorities with detailed, county-level data on voter removals and inactive status. This “unprecedented scrutiny” ensures that the state cannot hide outdated data behind bureaucratic barriers.

Tom Fitton, President of Judicial Watch, said the win is a “historic election integrity success.” He noted that the organization facilitated the removal of over six million ineligible voters nationwide.

This victory follows similar successful settlements in California, New York City, and Colorado.

Oregon Secretary of State Responds to Supreme Court’s VRA decision in Louisiana v. Callais

Oregon Secretary of State Tobias Read maintained that the clean-up in the Judicial Watch lawsuit is essential for public trust. He said the directives ensure Oregonians can be confident that voter records are up to date.

While the settlement resolves the current litigation, the federal court retains jurisdiction to ensure Oregon remains compliant with federal law through 2031.

But, responding to the Supreme Court Voting Rights Act Decision in Louisiana v. Callais, which guts a key provision of the Voting Rights Act, Secretary Read cautioned that it was  ‘Another loophole politicians will use to rig the system against the American people.’

Secretary Read said, “The whole point of the Voting Rights Act was to make our democracy better reflect the will of the people. Any attempt to undermine the VRA is an attempt to make the powerful less accountable to the public.”

He undertook to continue do everything he can to keep Oregon a place where every eligible citizen can vote and those votes matter.