The Department of Justice has sent warning letters to election officials across all 50 states and Washington, D.C., threatening criminal prosecution if they fail to prevent noncitizens from voting in federal elections. State officials must respond within five days explaining their compliance plans.

Federal Pressure Campaign Intensifies

Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon, leading the Civil Rights Division, signed the letters demanding states demonstrate how they maintain clean voter registration lists and ensure only eligible citizens cast ballots. The correspondence warns election officers could face charges for aiding and abetting noncitizen voting if they knowingly retain ineligible voters on registration rolls or facilitate ballot access for noncitizens. Officials deliberately diluting citizen votes could also face federal prosecution under the letters’ provisions.

State leaders across the country received the warnings, including Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, Nevada Secretary of State Francisco Aguilar, and Utah Lieutenant Governor Deidre Henderson. Henderson publicly criticized the correspondence as truly bizarre behavior, revealing she received what she called another love letter sprinkled with threats of criminal prosecution. She noted multiple chief election officers face targeting for following existing state and federal laws while resisting demands for private voter data.

Widespread Legal Pushback

The threatening letters represent the latest escalation in the Justice Department’s broader effort to assert federal control over state-run elections. While some states have complied with administration demands to surrender voter roll data, the department has filed lawsuits against 30 states and the District of Columbia for resistance. Federal courts have consistently rejected these efforts, with 11 different judges dismissing the Justice Department’s attempts to seize state voter registration information. Henderson specifically referenced these court rulings, noting at least a dozen courts have declared the data demands illegal.

The Reality Behind the Push

Noncitizen voting in federal elections remains extremely rare according to election security experts and state officials. Despite this reality, the Trump administration has characterized the issue as widespread, using it to justify increased federal oversight of state election systems. The Justice Department spokesperson defended the letters, claiming they simply request voluntary compliance in a timely manner with federal obligations to ensure only citizens participate in federal elections. State officials now face a five-day deadline to provide detailed explanations of their voter eligibility verification procedures and list maintenance protocols, with criminal prosecution looming as the stated consequence for noncompliance.