The Justice Department sent letters Tuesday to top election officials nationwide threatening them with criminal prosecution if noncitizens cast ballots that are counted in elections, according to one of the letters sent to a state and reviewed by MS NOW.
The letters, sent to all 50 states, demand that election officials show how they are complying with federal law on voter eligibility. They were sent by Harmeet Dhillon, the assistant attorney general who leads the Justice 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 in the letter.
Those who “fail to carry out their duties,” she wrote, face “potential criminal penalties.”
The threat comes as President Donald Trump has tried to gain more control over the country’s election system, continuing to spread baseless claims that elections are rigged if he loses. After the Supreme Court rejected Trump’s attempt to end birthright citizenship, Trump, his deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller and his administration have spread false claims that noncitizens are committing widespread voter fraud and that birthright citizens are taking “inheritance” away from other citizens when voting. State audits, including in Republican-led states, have proven that noncitizen voting is very rare.
Dhillon asked election officials to respond “within five days” and include details on how their state “intends to ensure it is complying with these federal laws both at the state and local level and how the Department can assist in those efforts.”
It is unclear which states will respond or what DOJ’s response will be to those who do not.
“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 DOJ spokesperson said in a statement to MS NOW.
The department’s threat is one of many state officials are facing from Trump as his administration demands access to voter data. The Federal Emergency Management Agency recently threatened to cut terrorism prevention funding to states unless they change their voting rules, demanding they switch to paper ballots and require citizenship verification, among other changes. If they don’t, FEMA will withhold some 20% of the antiterrorism funds. Similar attempts by the administration have failed in court.
Bipartisan lawmakers immediately criticized the latest guidance.
Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes announced in a press release that his office received the letter and rejected the DOJ’s claims, arguing that Arizona election officials already work to ensure only eligible citizens are registered to vote and will continue following state law, “not political rhetoric or intimidation.”
Utah Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson, a Republican and the state’s top election official, also confirmed in a social media post that she received the letter.
“I’m sure I’m not the only chief election officer of a state who is being targeted for following state and federal laws by resisting DOJ’s demands for private voter data that have thus far been ruled illegal by at least a dozen courts,” Henderson said, calling it “truly bizarre behavior.”
In search of a problem that doesn’t exist, Trump baselessly claims noncitizen voting poses an existential threat to the country, and has increasingly attacked his own party in Congress for failing to pass a proof-of-citizenship elections bill. The legislation, election officials and some Republicans warn, would make it harder for millions of Americans to vote.
To achieve Trump’s intention to take over elections and “nationalize the voting,” his administration has battled and largely failed in court when demanding states hand over voter rolls. And as Trump repeats lies about the 2020 election, a judge this week rejected the Justice Department’s attempt to force Georgia to hand over the names and personal contact information of 2020 election workers in Fulton County.
The memorandum also comes as election officials across the country continue to prepare for the November midterm elections, when control of Congress and numerous state offices will be on the ballot.
CORRECTION (July 8, 2026, 9:50 a.m. ET): A previous version of this article misstated the full name of FEMA. It is the Federal Emergency Management Agency, not Administration.
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