Federal Judge Questions Why Out-of-State Group Cannot Use Local Lawyer to Get Voter Data

U.S. District Judge Joe Heaton expressed doubt on Tuesday about the practical barrier facing the Public Interest Legal Foundation in its challenge to Oklahoma's voter data access rules. The judge questioned why the Virginia-based nonprofit cannot obtain the state's voter registration list through its local legal counsel or another Oklahoma resident.

The foundation filed its lawsuit in federal court in Oklahoma City on June 16. It argues that Senate Bill 1086, enacted in 2025, discriminates against out-of-state residents and violates the National Voter Registration Act. The law now requires requesters for the public voter registration list to be both Oklahoma residents and U.S. citizens. Alternatively, requesters must be candidates for office or official representatives of political parties.

Before the 2025 changes, any individual could access the public list by submitting a form to the state Election Board. The foundation used this access to compile a 2020 national report identifying dead voters and duplicate entries. It is currently working on an updated version of that report and claims the new residency requirement prevents it from maintaining accurate voter rolls.

The complaint states that the law creates different categories of the public, violating the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The foundation argues there is no rational basis for restricting full access to the statewide list to only residents and partisan organizations, especially when federal law grants access rights to the public generally.

Paul Ziriax, secretary of the Oklahoma Election Board, denied the foundation's data request in a May 8 letter. He stated that the Legislature acted within its authority to limit access to the electronic voter list. Ziriax argued that the restrictions help prevent foreigners and bad actors from gaining access while ensuring U.S. citizens, candidates, and political parties can still use the data.

The Oklahoma attorney general's office is defending the law on behalf of Ziriax. In its response to the lawsuit, the office contended that the foundation only suffered an informational injury rather than a concrete one that justifies federal intervention. The office noted that the foundation could share the data with others as long as it is not used for commercial or advertising purposes.

This state-level dispute follows a separate federal lawsuit involving the Trump administration and 30 states, including Oklahoma. The administration sought unredacted voter rolls to match against immigration and citizenship records. Attorney General Gentner Drummond settled that case in March, making Oklahoma the only state to reach a settlement according to the Brennan Center for Justice.

Under the settlement, the federal government can request the voter list as many times as it wants. The Election Board has only released the initial file so far. The board is also conducting limited checks of individual voters against the federal SAVE database, a system some states have criticized for outdated information.

In a similar dispute in California, the federal government demanded the state drop 20,000 ballots it deemed likely ineligible based on SAVE database checks. A federal appeals court ruled against the federal government this week, sending that case back to a district court for further review.

Judge Heaton will hear arguments from both sides in the Oklahoma case on November 10. His order scheduling the hearing included the question about whether local counsel could access the data on the foundation's behalf. The judge noted that millions of people fall into the category of bona fide resident citizens who can legally obtain and share the list.