DP&S Assists Elias Law Group to Secure Dismissal Protecting Confidential New Mexico Voter Data
Durham, Pittard & Spalding, LLP, together with Elias Law Group LLP of Washington, D.C., secured an important and closely watched victory for client New Mexico Alliance for Retired Americans in its fight to protect the privacy of New Mexico's registered voters.
The case stems from a nationwide effort by the U.S. Department of Justice to individually force all 50 states to turn over confidential voter information. In New Mexico, the DOJ sued New Mexico Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver, demanding an unredacted copy of the state's entire voter registration list — including every voter's full name, date of birth, home address, and driver's license or Social Security number. New Mexico Alliance for Retired Americans intervened as a defendant to oppose the DOJ's demand, and DP&S and Elias Law Group moved to dismiss the suit on the Alliance's behalf.
The Durham, Pittard & Spalding team included partners Justin Kaufman and Caren Friedman and associate Molly Samsell.
On July 14, 2026, the U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico granted the Alliance's motion, along with those of the Secretary of State and fellow intervenors Common Cause, Claudia Medina, and Justin Allen. The Court held that the DOJ's demand letter failed to satisfy Title III of the Civil Rights Act of 1960, which requires the Attorney General to state a factual basis for any such demand. The complaint was dismissed with prejudice, and a companion motion to compel production of the voter list was denied as moot.
The New Mexico ruling was the 14th nationwide to reject the DOJ's ongoing campaign to obtain unredacted, complete voter rolls, as a growing consensus of federal courts have rebuffed similar demands.
DP&S and Elias Law Group are proud to have helped safeguard the privacy of New Mexico's registered voters. The case is United States v. Toulouse Oliver, No. 1:25-cv-01193-JCH-JFR, in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico.
“New Mexico’s elections are administered with integrity, and we will keep fighting to keep the federal government out of our voters’ private information,” said New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez.