DOJ Warns States to Preserve Midterm Election Records

The Justice Department sent letters to election officials in all 50 states reminding them to preserve ballots and other federal election records and warning that willful violations can lead to criminal penalties, according to a court filing and copies of the notices reported by Democracy Docket.

The letters were sent Thursday, days before the midterm elections, by the Office of the Deputy Attorney General. Acting Deputy Attorney General R. Trent McCotter cited a federal law requiring officials to retain election records for 22 months. The notices said covered materials include ballots, completed voter-registration forms, pollbooks, precinct sign-in sheets, identification documents, mail-ballot requests and envelopes.

Officials who willfully fail to comply can face up to one year in prison and a $1,000 fine, the letters said. Federal law also prohibits the willful theft, destruction, concealment, mutilation or alteration of election records.

The nationwide notices were disclosed as a federal judge ordered the administration to identify where the Justice Department and Department of Homeland Security had issued separate demands involving specific voters or ballots. The Justice Department said the preservation letters, sent Oct. 29, were distinct from those voter-specific demands.

The timing and language drew objections from some state officials and concern from Justice Department veterans about departing from the department’s traditional restraint around elections. The administration has described its election-related actions as efforts to protect election integrity, while critics have characterized them as federal interference in a process administered by states.