Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows on Wednesday questioned the motives behind a new lawsuit by the U.S. Department of Justice aimed at forcing the state to turn over voter registration data for every resident.
At least 27 states are fighting similar requests, but only Maine and Oregon have been sued by the DOJ.
The DOJ lawsuit filed in federal district court says the months-long effort to obtain driver's license numbers, partial Social Security numbers, political party affiliation and voting frequency is part of a larger effort to ensure the state is properly maintaining voter rolls.
“States simply cannot pick and choose which federal laws they will comply with, including our voting laws, which ensure that all American citizens have equal access to the ballot in federal elections,” Harmeet Dhillon, assistant attorney general in the DOJ's Civil Rights Division, said in a statement Tuesday. “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.”
But voting rights groups like the Brennan Center for Justice warn that the effort is part of the Trump administration's bid to take over federal elections and amass a database of personal information for every voter in the country. The U.S. Constitution empowers states with election administration, which is why voting laws vary across the country.
Bellows voiced similar concerns at a press briefing on Wednesday.
"The Department of Justice, which as the ability to investigate people and put them in jail, should not have the right to know the partisan affiliation of every single voter in the country. That's not something they've ever had," she said.
While some states have provided some publicly available voting information, most are fighting the requests — including states with Republican election officials.
Bellows questioned why Maine and Oregon — both with Democratic secretaries of state — are targeted in the lawsuit.
Oregon Secretary of State Tobias Read also questioned the DOJ's motives in a statement provided to the Associated Press.
“If the President wants to use the DOJ to go after his political opponents and undermine our elections, I look forward to seeing them in court,” he said. “I stand by my oath to the people of Oregon, and I will protect their rights and privacy.”
Bellows also vouched for the security of Maine elections, which are largely run by clerks in the state's nearly 500 municipalities who are also charged with maintaining accurate voter rolls. Bellows also highlighted the state's efforts to maintain its central voter registration database, noting that 180,584 voter records were canceled in February. Her office said the purge came after a review of 248,000 voters who had registered to vote prior to 2018 election, but who had not voted between that date and a notice sent to them in June 2022.
In late July, the DOJ sent Bellows a letter asking for a complete copy of Maine's statewide voter registration list, including "all fields within that list." The letter also asked for a list of election officials responsible for maintaining that list as well as for detailed information about the state's efforts to update the voter rolls. After Bellows declined the request, the DOJ doubled down by asking for that information as well as copies of all original, completed voter registration applications submitted between Dec. 1, 2023, and July 1, 2025.
Bellows formally rejected that second request last week.
"Moreover, it is difficult to understand what possible legitimate investigative purpose could be served by such an undifferentiated request for all registration applications in a 19-month period," Bellows wrote in her Sept. 8 response. "In any event, under Maine law, original voter registration applications are maintained by registrars in each of Maine's roughly 480 municipalities."
Republicans in Maine have stepped up their criticism of Bellows in recent months and have accused her office of failing to properly maintain accurate voter registration lists. The day after Bellows formally declined to comply with the DOJ's second request, the Republican National Committee sent a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi requesting that the DOJ launch an official investigation into Bellows and the secretary of state's office, alleging failure to comply with the requirements of the National Voter Registration Act.
The Office of Maine Attorney General will represent Bellows in the lawsuit, but had not responded to the DOJ's complaint as of Wednesday afternoon.
