DOJ Puts Election Officials in All 50 States on Notice: Prevent Noncitizen Voting or Else
The Department of Justice is warning states that allowing noncitizens to vote in the coming midterm elections could have serious consequences.
Letters sent to all 50 states and the District of Columbia noted that election officials who allow noncitizens to vote may face prosecution, according to The New York Times.
The letters were sent by Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon, who heads up the department’s Civil Rights Division.
“Any election officer, including the chief election officer of the state, who knowingly retains noncitizens on the state’s” voter list “or facilitates noncitizens in receiving and casting ballots could be subject to criminal liability,” Dhillon wrote.
𝐀𝐀𝐆 𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐌𝐄𝐄𝐓 𝐃𝐇𝐈𝐋𝐋𝐎𝐍 𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐍𝐒 𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 𝐎𝐅𝐅𝐈𝐂𝐈𝐀𝐋𝐒: 𝐂𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐓 𝐍𝐎𝐍𝐂𝐈𝐓𝐈𝐙𝐄𝐍 𝐕𝐎𝐓𝐄𝐒, 𝐅𝐀𝐂𝐄 𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐒𝐄𝐂𝐔𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍
The Justice Department is done asking nicely. Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon’s Civil Rights Division has… pic.twitter.com/E8BlbjrSY6
— M.A. Rothman (@MichaelARothman) July 8, 2026
The letters list federal laws banning noncitizens from voting and seek a reply within five days telling the Justice Department how states would comply “with these federal laws both at the state and local level and how the Department can assist in those efforts.”
The letters come amid a campaign by the Justice Department to review state voter roll data, an effort that has been fought by many states.
The Justice Department also alerted officials in Detroit, Lansing, and East Lansing in Michigan that federal election monitors would be observing the upcoming primary elections there.
CBS News reported that the letters note it is a crime for two or more people to conspire in such a way that others are deprived of their constitutional rights.
“We encourage you to contact us to discuss what steps your state should take to maintain clean voter lists as required by law,” she wrote.
“In addition to the Civil Rights Division’s authority to seek injunctive relief for violations of these laws, we are also authorized to prosecute criminal violations,” the letters said, according to ABC News.
“Federal law mandates that state and local election officials properly maintain election records and undertake certain actions to ensure that only eligible U.S. citizens cast votes in elections for federal office,” the letters 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,” a Justice Department representative said in a statement, according to NBC News.
We @TheJusticeDept are proud to safeguard every American’s right to vote — and we will continue routine, nonpartisan election monitoring that’s been standard under both Republican & Democrat administrations for decades.
We enforce the law equally. Stay tuned for more! pic.twitter.com/OjSkct9LDU— AAGHarmeetDhillon (@AAGDhillon) July 7, 2026
“The right to vote in Federal elections is reserved exclusively for citizens of the United States under the Constitution and Federal law. Federal statutes explicitly prohibit non-citizens from registering to vote or voting in Federal elections and impose criminal penalties for violations,” President Donald Trump wrote in a March 31 executive order that called for citizenship verification in elections.
“Federal statutes explicitly prohibit non-citizens from registering to vote or casting ballots in Federal elections, yet lax verification and self-certification loopholes in some States have left gaps that undermine public confidence in election outcomes,” a fact sheet accompanying the order said.
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