New Mexico Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver pushed back against the federal government on Wednesday after the Justice Department filed suit against her for not turning over information from the state’s voter registration database.
In two posts on X, Toulouse Oliver, a Democrat who is also running for lieutenant governor in 2026, called the lawsuit “part of the Trump administration’s assault on free and fair elections.” She also accused “a weaponized Justice Department” of demanding personal data of voters that is protected under state law.
“We have already made available to them the public data federal law requires. They are seeking access to sensitive data that’s simply not needed to comply with voter list maintenance and which is protected by state law,” Toulouse Oliver posted.
The complaint, which was filed Tuesday in the United States District Court for the District of New Mexico, asks that Toulouse Oliver be required to provide the Justice Department with an electronic copy of the state’s complete voter registration list within five days. That list includes the full name, date of birth, address, driver’s license number and the last four digits of the Social Security number of each registered voter in New Mexico.
According to the complaint, the data is being sought to ensure the state is maintaining accurate voter registration lists in accordance with federal standards. The Justice Department, in the complaint, said the Civil Rights Act of 1960 grants the federal government authority to demand election records and that the Help America Vote Act mandates that states collect certain information when they register voters.
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a press release announcing the suit against New Mexico and five other states that too many states have fallen into “noncompliance with basic voter roll maintenance.”
The Justice Department has also filed similar suits against Delaware, Maryland, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington which all have Democratic secretaries of state.