DOJ Sends 50 States Warning of 12-Month Prison Sentence for Ballot Preservation

The U.S. Department of Justice sent identical letters to all 50 states on Thursday, warning election officials that they face up to one year in prison and a $1,000 fine if they fail to preserve election materials for 22 months.

The correspondence is signed by Trent McCotter, the acting deputy attorney general and the department’s second-highest-ranking official. He assumed the role in August. The letters cite Section 20701 of federal law, which dates to 1960, and state that it is a crime to willfully fail to comply with its preservation requirements.

Multiple state election offices confirmed receiving the notices dated Oct. 29. The letters also warn that it is unlawful to willfully steal, destroy, conceal, mutilate, or alter election records. Officials familiar with the documents said the text was identical across jurisdictions.

The timing of the mailing draws attention because it arrived just two days after U.S. District Judge David O. Carter in California admonished the administration. Carter rejected the Justice Department’s attempt to force California to set aside ballots from roughly 20,000 voters in a dispute over suspected noncitizens. In a written ruling, Carter stated that the threats to state employees must stop.

Justin Levitt, a former Justice Department official and White House voting rights adviser under President Joe Biden, said he was unaware of precedent for sending such a nationwide reminder. He noted that election officials already know their obligations to comply with the law.

Levitt described the action as appearing intended to intimidate rather than inform. He stated that while it is not inherently improper for the DOJ to remind officials of legal duties, the involvement of the deputy attorney general in sending the letter to everyone is unusual.

This mailing follows a July notice signed by Harmeet Dhillon, the assistant attorney general for the civil rights division. That letter warned officials of prosecution for knowingly allowing noncitizens to vote. In September, Eric Neff, the acting chief of the division’s voting section, signed letters to 29 states and Washington, D.C., threatening civil or criminal penalties for failing to preserve 2024 records.

McCotter has recently taken a direct role in election-related litigation. Earlier this month, he signed letters to California officials, including Secretary of State Shirley Weber and Los Angeles County Registrar Dean Logan. He gave them 48 hours to review a federal list of suspected noncitizens and demanded they set aside ballots where citizenship could not be confirmed.

The Justice Department subsequently sued California to bar the state from counting those ballots. Carter rejected the request on Wednesday, finding that the intervention could disrupt voting and prevent eligible citizens from having their ballots counted. The department has appealed the decision and issued grand jury subpoenas to California election officials.

Joshua Douglas, an election law professor at the University of Kentucky, said he has never seen the DOJ send this type of letter across the country in the days before an election. He noted that the letters impose no new legal requirements but create additional work for officials during a demanding period. He added that the move feels unnecessary and creates confusion, even if it is not targeting states based on politics.