The Department of Justice has sent letters to election officials in all 50 states reminding them of a federal requirement to preserve election records and warning that willful noncompliance can result in criminal prosecution.
The letters, which were dated October 29 and signed by Acting Deputy Attorney General Trent McCotter, arrived days before the November 3 midterm elections. “Election Day is fast approaching, and I write to ensure that your office is protecting the integrity of your state’s elections and following federal recordkeeping requirements,” McCotter wrote.
“To protect the franchise and maintain public confidence in our democratic process, Congress requires election officials to retain election records. I am writing to remind you of that obligation,” he added.
The letters cite 52 U.S.C. § 20701, a provision dating to 1960 that requires officials to preserve for 22 months records required for voting in a federal election. These include completed voter registration forms, pollbooks, precinct sign-in sheets, copies of identification documents, mail-ballot requests and envelopes, and the ballots themselves, whether cast by mail, drop box, or in person.
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Just in: Federal court orders:
DOJ “shall not threaten state or local election officials and workers with criminal prosecution for processing or counting ballots in the 2026 election.”
Also prohibits other forms of attempted intimidation, threats, coercion. pic.twitter.com/a3QZP9FmGp
— Ryan Goodman (@rgoodlaw) October 31, 2026
“It is a crime to willfully fail to comply with Section 20701. Such a failure is punishable by up to a year in prison and a $1,000 fine,” the correspondence states. It further notes that federal law prohibits the willful theft, destruction, concealment, mutilation, or alteration of election records. The Department of Justice confirmed in a court filing on October 30 that the notices went to all states, while copies obtained from Colorado, Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin are essentially identical.
The letters impose no new legal obligations and simple restate an existing statute.
The timing coincides with other Justice Department actions involving state election administration. Earlier in October, the department sent demands to California officials regarding a list of individuals it alleged could be noncitizens who had received mail ballots, instructing them to review the list and set aside certain ballots.
A federal judge rejected a request to force the segregation of those ballots and stated that threats against election workers must stop. The department has also pursued access to voter data and records in other jurisdictions through litigation.
In a separate filing responding to a lawsuit by Democratic groups, the department identified California and Washington as states where it had sent communications concerning specific voters. The Department of Homeland Security separately contacted California, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey regarding potential noncitizens on voter rolls. The preservation letters were described by the department as distinct from those earlier communications.
