Posted on 11/01/2026 8:28:28 AM PST by DFG
The Justice Department has warned election officials in multiple states that they could face jail time if they fail to preserve election records in accordance with federal law, according to copies of the letters obtained by ABC News.
Acting Deputy Attorney General Trent McCotter framed his letter, sent Thursday to state election leaders, as a "reminder" of their obligation to preserve ballots, pollbooks, precinct sign-in sheets and other election-related materials.
"It is a crime to willfully fail to comply" with the record-retention rules, McCotter wrote. "Such a failure is punishable by up to a year in prison and a $1,000 fine."
The message from McCotter comes as the Trump administration continues threatening election workers in California and elsewhere with jail time for tabulating ballots that the Justice Department claims could belong to noncitizen voters.
Multiple state election officials said McCotter's invocation of criminal liability for election officials who fail to comply with longstanding law marks a departure from how past administrations have communicated such obligations to their state counterparts.
Some state officials ABC News spoke with took issue with the letter's tone.
"While I hope the decision to emphasize criminal penalties was intended simply as a reminder of the law, it could have been handled differently," said Connecticut Secretary of State Stephanie Thomas.
In January, the FBI seized more than 600 boxes of ballots and other election records in Fulton County, Georgia, as part of an investigation driven by allies of President Donald Trump seeking to overturn the outcome of the 2020 election.
A federal judge in May denied a request from Fulton County officials to force the FBI to return the ballots.
(Excerpt) Read more at abcnews.com ...
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The Democrats are laughing at this.
They have an army of judges ready to impede any efforts to prosecute corrupt Democrat/leftist officials.
The only way such “warnings” work is after some crooks have been indicted and convicted and put in prison.
California has resigned from America and must not be allowed to continue in federal activities.
California must be purged from the Union and assume territorial status like Puerto Rico and Guam
Yeah, I bet the blue states are just shaking in their boots. They have no intention of preserving anything they fraudulently do. Seems there’s nothing that can be done. We’ve been waiting.
I think we are not far from vigilante justice. If American citizens lose hope in our justice system, what’s to stop them from taking the law into their own hands?
GOP controlled DOJ weasel wording. “Could” and not “would” face charges if they don’t keep voting records.
COULD!!!?? COULD!!!??? OOULD !!?
C’MON MAN!!!!!!!!
Yes, and the army of judges is also supporting them in not turning over their voter rolls! There are millions of non-citizens on those rolls via the DMVs in blue states.
And as long as Thune continues to honor the blue slip system we’ll never get a fair judge in the California.
A statistical analysis of the votes will show a lot too. Dem precincts that ‘vote’ over 70 to 90% of citizens will be looked at...
A statistical analysis of the votes will show a lot too. Dem precincts that ‘vote’ over 70 to 90% of citizens will be looked at...
In the absence of legislation — this is not a Federal matter.
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