{"id":957,"date":"2026-07-08T18:10:55","date_gmt":"2026-07-08T18:10:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=957"},"modified":"2026-07-08T18:10:55","modified_gmt":"2026-07-08T18:10:55","slug":"doj-issues-nationwide-threat-to-prosecute-local-election-officials","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=957","title":{"rendered":"DOJ Issues Nationwide Threat to Prosecute Local Election Officials"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Department of Justice sent a letter to dozens of state and local election officials threatening to prosecute them if any noncitizens are found to have voted in the upcoming midterms, sharply escalating the Trump administration\u2019s attacks on local election oversight across the country.<\/p>\n

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The letter was signed by Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon, a staunch Trump ally who is serving as head of the Justice Department\u2019s Civil Rights division.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the latest in a series of attempts by President Donald Trump\u2019s administration to exert control over state-run elections.<\/p>\n

Trump has pushed for Congress to pass the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility, or SAVE America Act, which would require proof of citizenship at the time of registration and a photo ID verification when voters cast their ballots. The SAVE America Act received bipartisan pushback from lawmakers and is currently at a standstill in the Senate because it lacks the support needed to advance the bill.<\/p>\n

The president\u2019s efforts to crackdown on states\u2019 administration of elections have also faced multiple courtroom losses, which prompted Department of Homeland Security officials to consider<\/u><\/span> using grant funding allocated to states \u2014 and the threat of withholding it \u2014 to \u201cadvance core national security priorities.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAny election officer, including the chief election officer of the state, who knowingly retains noncitizens on the state\u2019s SVRL [State Voter Registration List] or facilitates noncitizens in receiving and casting ballots could be subject to criminal liability,\u201d Dhillon wrote in the letter<\/u><\/span>. It\u2019s unclear how many officials were targeted by the administration.<\/p>\n

Election workers have five days to respond to the Justice Department with plans to comply with the federal, state and local election laws. The Justice Department confirmed in a statement that it sent letters to officials of all states and Washington, D.C., \u201casking for voluntary compliance in a timely manner with their obligations under federal law to ensure only citizens vote in federal elections.\u201d<\/p>\n

The push is part of a broader effort by the Trump administration to crack down on noncitizen voting, which experts say is extremely rare.<\/p>\n

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\u201cNoncitizen registration is already rare, and noncitizen voting is even less common,\u201d a February report<\/u><\/span> from the Bipartisan Policy Center said.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s already illegal for noncitizens to vote under the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996. Any noncitizen who attempts to break the federal law could be fined, imprisoned for up to one year, or both. \u201cThis is what panic and desperation looks like,\u201d David Becker, a former voting rights lawyer for the Justice Department who now runs the Center for Election Innovation and Research, told The New York Times<\/u><\/span>. \u201cThey\u2019ve had 18 months to find evidence of a crime that was never committed, and found nothing. And now they fall back on crude and transparent bullying tactics.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trump issued an executive order<\/u><\/span> in March directing the Department of Homeland Security to work with the Social Security Administration to create a \u201cstate citizenship list,\u201d documenting people who are U.S. citizens and will be at least 18 years old by the next federal election. The order also instructed the U.S. Postal service to add more tracking features for absentee and mail ballots.<\/p>\n

A federal judge in D.C. blocked<\/u><\/span> the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements, or SAVE, tool from being used in upcoming elections. The SAVE system was originally intended to verify the citizenship status of those applying for federal benefits, but Trump overhauled the tool by combining it with other databases to create a national voter database.<\/p>\n

However, a federal judge in Florida granted<\/u><\/span> an emergency motion on Tuesday allowing Florida, Ohio, Iowa and Indiana to use the SAVE tool by enforcing a prior settlement agreement with the Homeland Security Department from November 2025.<\/p>\n

The language in the Justice Department\u2019s new letter leaves the door open for broad enforcement, including the prosecution of public officials.<\/p>\n

\u201cAn intentional act that is aimed at diluting the votes of citizens could also constitute a violation,\u201d the Justice Department wrote.<\/p>\n

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It\u2019s the latest in a series of attempts by the Trump administration to exert control over state-run elections.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":956,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-957","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-2026-election"],"yoast_head":"\nDOJ Issues Nationwide Threat to Prosecute Local Election Officials - Modern Home Journals<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=957\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"DOJ Issues Nationwide Threat to Prosecute Local Election Officials - Modern Home Journals\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"It\u2019s the latest in a series of attempts by the Trump administration to exert control over state-run elections.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=957\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Modern Home Journals\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-08T18:10:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=957#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=957\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/533de239efc09a2ab59959cc1bff86d0\"},\"headline\":\"DOJ Issues Nationwide Threat to Prosecute Local Election Officials\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-08T18:10:55+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=957\"},\"wordCount\":707,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=957#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/06d34e005aedf9ddd9c7f52b92e2d450-scaled.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"2026 Election\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=957#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=957\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=957\",\"name\":\"DOJ Issues Nationwide Threat to Prosecute Local Election Officials - Modern Home Journals\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=957#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=957#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/06d34e005aedf9ddd9c7f52b92e2d450-scaled.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-08T18:10:55+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/533de239efc09a2ab59959cc1bff86d0\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=957#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=957\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=957#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/06d34e005aedf9ddd9c7f52b92e2d450-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/06d34e005aedf9ddd9c7f52b92e2d450-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1707,\"caption\":\"FILE - The Robert F. 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