State election officials are taking steps to preserve ballots and other records from the 2024 election after the Justice Department issued litigation-hold notices, an extension of the Trump administration‘s fight for access to state voter rolls following multiple courtroom defeats.
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Department → take → defeats
Nevada has asked counties to retain election materials indefinitely, including any remaining records from 2022, according to a Sept. 4 email obtained by the Washington Examiner on Wednesday.
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Nevada → ask → Wednesday
New Hampshire has likewise instructed municipalities to preserve 2024 ballots until further notice, an official said.
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official → instruct → notice
Both states are among a group of 30 that the DOJ has sued this year seeking access to state voter rolls, unredacted voter registration lists, and other information that the department says it needs to assess whether states maintain accurate rolls and whether any ineligible registrations need to be cross-checked for compliance with federal voting guidelines.
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registrations → sue → guidelines
Federal law requires preservation of covered election records for 22 months.
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law → require → months
That period for the Nov. 5, 2024, election reached its end point on Sept. 5.
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period → reach → Sept.
The DOJ argues its litigation hold requires preservation beyond that period.
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hold → argue → period
Its instructions include suspending destruction policies and protecting electronic records, warning that failure to preserve relevant material could bring civil or criminal sanctions.
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failure → include → sanctions
States work to preserve ballots
Battleground states such as Arizona confirmed to the Washington Examiner it sent information to counties following the DOJ notice, while Minnesota has publicly committed to complying with the preservation request.
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Minnesota → work → request
The DOJ sent the notices on Sept. 4, seeking to prevent destruction of records potentially relevant to the future of its voter roll lawsuits that are likely to continue following the November midterm elections.
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that → send → elections
Citing “credible threats of litigation,” the secretary of state’s office asked counties to preserve ballots, mail ballot envelopes, proof-of-voting records, and other election materials.
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office → cite → voting
“We ask that you retain not only the 2024 general election records, but also any materials that you may still have regarding the 2022 election,” the office wrote.
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office → ask → election
The office anticipated a six-month hold but gave counties no firm date for resuming disposal.
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office → anticipate → disposal
“While we anticipate that this request will last no longer than 6 months, we ask that you preserve the documents indefinitely,” the email stated.
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email → anticipate → documents
The office said it could not provide details about the litigation and asked counties to acknowledge receipt on short turnaround.
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it → say → turnaround
Meanwhile, Nevada Democratic Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar’s office previously confirmed to the Washington Examiner earlier this month that it had received seven voter-related DOJ subpoenas over the preceding three months, signaling a particular interest by the DOJ in the state.
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it → confirm → state
For all of the states implicated in the recent retention requests, the DOJ argues that Title III of the Civil Rights Act of 1960 authorizes demands for election records to check compliance with the National Voter Registration Act and the Help America Vote Act.
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America → implicate → Act
But judges have dismissed voter roll cases involving California, Oregon, Arizona, and New Hampshire, among other states.
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judges → dismiss → states
A federal appeals court also upheld the rejection of DOJ’s demand for Michigan’s list.
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court → uphold → list
Those courtroom setbacks have established a steep litigation battle ahead over the department’s interpretation of its authority, leaving the final resolve likely for the Supreme Court down the line.
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setbacks → establish → line
In New Hampshire, Republican Secretary of State David Scanlan told municipalities on Sept. 10 to preserve 2024 ballots and related records “until further notice,” citing advice from the state attorney general’s office.
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Scanlan → tell → office
Despite his compliance, Scanlan disputed the DOJ’s justification for the hold.
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Scanlan → dispute → hold
“Nor has USDOJ provided any evidence indicating that any state or local election official may have violated federal law at any point in the past 22 months,” Scanlan wrote.
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Scanlan → provide → months
Asked about the notices, a DOJ official directed the Washington Examiner to a Sept. 10 post by Civil Rights Division chief Harmeet Dhillon.
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official → ask → Dhillon
“We sent the letter to ensure these states do not destroy election records related to our ongoing lawsuits,” Dhillon wrote.
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Dhillon → send → lawsuits
Dhillon posted the letter to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger as an example of the notices sent to states.
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Dhillon → post → states
The Peach State is particularly notable, given the department was given a court’s sign-off earlier this year to raid the election facility of its most populous municipality, Fulton County, for records related to the 2020 election.
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department → give → election
A spokesperson for Raffensperger’s office did not respond to a request for comment.
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spokesperson → respond → comment
Some states are still less clear than others on how they are handling the DOJ’s letter from earlier this month.
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they → handle → month
For example, Arizona’s secretary of state’s office told the Washington Examiner it sent information to counties, though it was nondescript about specific directives given to local counties.
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it → tell → counties
Likewise, Wisconsin’s office acknowledged receipt of the DOJ letter but did not specify its directives to local officials, only noting in a public FAQ page that “Wisconsin follows all record retention and list maintenance laws.”
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Wisconsin → acknowledge → laws
Last week, the Associated Press reported the Minnesota secretary of state’s office said the state would comply, while Utah Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson acknowledged the need to preserve records during litigation while criticizing the DOJ’s approach.
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Henderson → report → approach
New Hampshire’s Republican secretary of state emphasized that preservation does not mean agreeing to release confidential information.
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preservation → emphasize → information
The DOJ’s loss in New Hampshire’s voter roll case is on appeal, he said.
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he → say → appeal
“This Office will evaluate any demand to inspect or copy such records on a case-by-case basis when and if USDOJ makes a demand,” he wrote.
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he → evaluate → demand
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