Overview
- The Department of Justice sent a letter signed by Civil Rights Division chief Harmeet Dhillon that warned election officers could face criminal liability if they knowingly retain noncitizens on voter rolls.
- The letter, which the DOJ also sent to Michigan and Nevada with five-day compliance demands, escalates a lawsuit the department filed seeking Utah’s full voter-registration data.
- Utah Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson has refused to hand over private voter files, saying state and federal law bar the disclosure and publicly criticizing the DOJ’s threats.
- A Utah review of 2.1 million registrations found 27 noncitizens who were removed and no evidence any of them ever cast a ballot, and the League of Women Voters of Utah, the NAACP, and the DNC have intervened to oppose disclosure.
- Courts in other states have rejected similar DOJ requests, and the outcome of the Utah suit will affect whether federal enforcement can override state control of voter data and may raise privacy and voter‑chill concerns if records are centralized.