DOJ tells 29 states, D.C. to preserve 2024 election records

The Justice Department has directed election officials in 29 states and the District of Columbia to preserve hard-copy and electronic records from the 2024 election, adding a new records-management requirement to its broader effort to obtain detailed voter-registration information.

The letters are litigation holds, not court rulings granting DOJ access to the requested data. They tell election officials to preserve material that could be relevant to lawsuits seeking statewide voter-registration lists.

What the preservation letters do

According to Associated Press reporting, the letters instruct officials to take reasonable steps to preserve paper documents and electronically stored information connected to registration, voting and election administration.

One letter obtained by AP warned that failing to preserve relevant information could constitute spoliation of evidence and could expose officials to civil or criminal sanctions. DOJ officials have described the letters as standard litigation practice intended to ensure that records related to the lawsuits are not destroyed.

The immediate effect is on election offices and their records-management systems. A preservation hold generally means officials should not destroy relevant records under ordinary schedules while related litigation is pending. It does not transfer voter files to the federal government, determine that any voter is ineligible or change how voters register or cast ballots.

Why DOJ says it wants the records

In a February 26 announcement about lawsuits against five additional states, DOJ said the Civil Rights Act of 1960 gives the attorney general broad authority to demand, inspect and analyze election records. The department said it is seeking the information to examine whether voter-registration lists are properly maintained.

The statute cited by DOJ requires election officials to retain records and papers relating to federal elections for 22 months after the election. It also provides a process for the attorney general to demand access for inspection, reproduction and copying, and allows a federal court to compel production. A litigation hold can require records to be kept beyond an office’s ordinary destruction schedule, depending on the case.

What data is at issue

The related lawsuits concern statewide voter-registration information that may include sensitive categories such as addresses, dates of birth, driver’s-license information and partial Social Security numbers, where applicable. Those are examples from the broader litigation and should not be assumed to appear in every record or every state file.

DOJ’s voting guidance says the Civil Rights Division is authorized to seek statewide registration lists and share them with the Department of Homeland Security as part of an effort to identify people the department believes may be ineligible to vote. DOJ has denied that it is building a national voter list, but questions about interagency data sharing and federal analysis remain part of the dispute.

States and courts have pushed back

State officials and election administrators have raised privacy and federal-overreach concerns. Some have said the requests may conflict with state privacy laws or could allow voter information to be used for purposes beyond ordinary list maintenance. Those are objections raised by officials and advocates, not final judicial findings resolving every case.

Federal courts have rejected or dismissed several DOJ lawsuits seeking detailed voter information. In Maryland, U.S. District Judge Stephanie Gallagher dismissed the department’s case and concluded that the state’s unredacted voter-registration file was not a record the state was required to produce under the statute DOJ cited. AP reported that similar efforts had also been rejected in Arizona, California, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Oregon, Rhode Island and Wisconsin, while a Georgia case was dismissed on venue grounds before DOJ refiled.

The court setbacks do not automatically cancel the preservation directives. They do show that DOJ’s underlying effort to compel detailed voter data has not been uniformly accepted by federal courts. Other litigation remains active or subject to appeal.

What the dispute means before the midterms

For voters, the preservation letters do not by themselves change registration status, voting eligibility or ballot procedures. Anyone checking a registration record should continue to use the official verification tools provided by their state or local election office.

The larger question is whether DOJ can require states to provide detailed voter information and use or share it across federal agencies. The outcome could affect federal oversight, election-office workloads and voter-privacy practices before the 2026 midterm elections.

Sources

• Associated Press: Justice Department directs states to preserve 2024 election records
• U.S. Department of Justice: Justice Department Sues Five Additional States for Failure to Produce Voter Rolls

Look for updates to this story

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