WASHINGTON, July 8 - The U.S. Department of Justice has circulated letters to election authorities in every state and the District of Columbia warning that officials could face criminal prosecution if noncitizens remain on voter registration rolls.
The correspondence, delivered on Tuesday by Harmeet Dhillon, who leads the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division, cautions that state election officers may be subject to criminal charges under multiple federal statutes intended to protect the integrity of federal elections and to prevent non-U.S. citizens from voting.
One of the letters contains a pointed admonition: "Any election officer, including the chief election officer of the state, who knowingly retains noncitizens on the state’s SVRL (state voter registration list) or facilitates noncitizens in receiving and casting ballots could be subject to criminal liability," Dhillon wrote in that communication.
Administration officials framed the letters as part of a broader effort by Republican President Donald Trump’s administration to press states on voter eligibility ahead of November’s midterm elections, which will determine control of Congress.
The Justice Department has pursued several legal avenues related to voter records in recent months. According to the letters, the agency remains focused on ensuring ineligible individuals are removed from voter rolls even after suffering courtroom defeats in a series of lawsuits that sought nonpublic voter data from states.
In a statement accompanying the outreach, a Justice Department spokesperson said: "The Department sent these letters to all 50 states and the District of Columbia, asking for voluntary compliance in a timely manner with their obligations under federal law to ensure only citizens vote in federal elections."
The letters signal the department’s intent to elevate enforcement as an option despite setbacks in court, and they warn election officials that potential criminal exposure exists in the lead-up to closely contested congressional races.
Several Democratic state officials responded publicly, rejecting the implication that their offices were failing to protect voter eligibility. Angela Benander, a spokesperson for the Michigan secretary of state’s office, said the state has already taken extensive efforts to ensure only eligible voters can vote.
Arizona’s Democratic secretary of state, Adrian Fontes, issued a statement asserting that his office has long worked to keep voter rolls limited to eligible citizens. "Arizona election officials have always worked to ensure that only eligible citizens are registered to vote, and we will continue following Arizona law - not directions that come from political rhetoric or intimidation," Fontes said.
The letters from the Civil Rights Division represent a continuation of the Justice Department’s engagement with state-run elections and come as national attention concentrates on procedures and legal obligations that govern voter registration and ballot access. Where the correspondence will lead remains uncertain, particularly given the department’s prior legal losses in efforts to obtain state voter data.
Context and implications
The notices create a legal and political flashpoint between federal enforcement priorities and state election administration. They emphasize potential criminal liability for officials who do not act to remove noncitizens from voter rolls, while several state authorities maintain they already follow robust processes to verify eligibility.