DOJ Says Letter to States About 2024 Election Files Is No Threat

The Trump administration is ordering officials in more than two dozen states to preserve records from the 2024 election as part of a campaign to force states to turn over detailed voter records despite repeated court losses. The Justice Department sent letters to 29 states and the District of Columbia instructing election officials not to destroy the records, the AP reports. Those are places the Trump administration has sued in a bid to gain access to voter registration information that contains addresses, dates of birth, driver's license numbers, and partial Social Security numbers.

In one letter, a Justice Department official told Utah Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson, a Republican, that she is "under investigation" and subject to ongoing litigation over the state's failure to turn over statewide voter registration lists. The Justice Department declined to elaborate Thursday on the nature of the investigation. "The purpose of this letter is to notify you of your obligations to take reasonable steps to conduct a litigation hold and preserve and retain all hard copy documents and electronically stored information," wrote Eric Neff, acting chief of the Civil Rights Division's Voting Section. The letter warns election officials that their "failure to preserve relevant data may constitute spoliation of evidence," which could subject them to "civil and criminal sanctions."

In a social media post Thursday, Harmeet Dhillon, head of the Civil Rights Division, said the letters were sent to ensure states do not destroy election records related to the lawsuits that seek to compel election officials to hand over voter registration lists. "This is standard litigation practice, not a 'threat,'" Dhillon posted on X. Secretaries of state said they already are following the law and will comply with the DOJ request. A Minnesota Secretary of State spokesperson noted that it goes beyond the federal requirement of maintaining records for 22 months following an election. Henderson, Utah's top elections official, said her office understands the need to hold onto records during litigation. "What's not helpful is the constant barrage of attacks and harassment and accusations, baseless accusations, that do nothing to help secure our elections," she said.