DOJ Warns Election Officials of Jail Time as DHS Vows to Deport Illegal Voters
The Trump administration is issuing pointed legal warnings on the eve of the midterms, aimed both at election officials and at noncitizens tempted to cast ballots.
The Justice Department sent letters to election officials in all 50 states reminding them that federal law requires them to preserve election records, Votebeat reported. The letters were dated Oct. 29.
Acting Deputy Attorney General Trent McCotter signed them. “Election Day is fast approaching, and I write to ensure that your office is protecting the integrity of your state’s elections,” he wrote.
The letters carry a warning. “It is a crime to willfully fail to comply with Section 20701,” they state, an offense “punishable by up to a year in prison and a $1,000 fine.”
That 1960 law requires officials to keep federal election records for 22 months, including ballots, pollbooks, sign-in sheets and mail envelopes, Democracy Docket reported.
The department confirmed in a court filing that it sent the letters “to all states,” Politico reported.
Officials Push Back
Some election officials bristled. Connecticut Secretary of State Stephanie Thomas said “it could have been handled differently,” ABC News reported.
Loyola Law School professor Justin Levitt said the letter “looks like it’s meant to intimidate.” Critics noted the letters arrived after a federal judge declared in a separate case that “these threats must stop.”
In Oregon, officials received the same records warning days before the vote, the Statesman Journal reported. Texas’ letter was addressed to a former secretary of state.
The letters put the threat of federal prosecution in writing just days before the last ballots are cast, as counties prepare to store millions of ballots, envelopes and pollbooks.
The Department of Homeland Security is sending its own message. DHS General Counsel James Percival said Saturday on Fox News’ “My View with Lara Trump” that illegal voting will be punished, Fox News reported.
“Whether it’s now or later, if you illegally cast a vote, we will find you, we will charge you, and we will deport you,” Percival said.
He said more than 200 people have already been charged. DHS has been checking state voter rolls against federal immigration data and has flagged hundreds of thousands of possible noncitizen registrations.
Not every state accepts those numbers. Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs called the federal list “not reliable,” arguing it sweeps in eligible citizens.
Supporters of the crackdown say the warnings are simply a reminder of laws already on the books. Federal law has long barred noncitizens from voting in federal elections and required records to be preserved.
Critics see a pressure campaign on local officials. Either way, the administration has made clear it will be watching Tuesday’s results, and the paperwork behind them, closely.
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