Washington, March 17 – The Trump administration has begun reviewing voter rolls in several states, a senior official said, warning that some jurisdictions are “resisting” compliance with federal election laws.
Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon stated on Monday (local time) that the US Department of Justice (DOJ) is utilizing existing legal authority to examine voter registration systems and ensure that states meet federal requirements.
"We already have tools in place that we are using here at the DOJ, some for the first time, regarding our attorney general's right under the 1960 Civil Rights Act to access and review these voter rolls," she said in an interview with Real America's News.
Dhillon said the effort involves comparing state voter rolls with federal databases and sharing findings with state authorities.
"We are helping to clean up the voter rolls, comparing them with some federal databases, and returning information to the states to help them do their jobs," she said.
She noted uneven cooperation across states. "Some states are doing this voluntarily. Some of them are resisting, and I think there are obvious reasons why they are resisting," she said.
The DOJ is also engaged in discussions with several states over practices that may conflict with federal law. Dhillon described ongoing "pre-litigation discussions" aimed at resolving compliance issues before formal legal action.
She pointed to specific concerns in voter verification systems. "Some states have loopholes in their record-keeping, such as Minnesota's vouching standard, which allows one voter to vouch for up to eight other voters regarding their address, which is inconsistent with federal law," she said.
Federal officials are also in talks with states, including North Carolina and Arizona, regarding "irregularities in their voter registration procedures that have led to people being put on the voter rolls without any form of verification or that they are citizens," Dhillon said.
"That is a violation of federal law for federal elections," she added.
Dhillon described the initiative as largely administrative but significant. "It is simply a lot of record-keeping and administrative work that previous administrations have not wanted to do," she said.
She also criticised earlier enforcement approaches, saying that previous administrations had taken action against states that attempted to update voter rolls. "Previous administrations, particularly Democratic administrations, have actually sued states that have tried to clean up their voter rolls voluntarily," she said.
On election integrity, she underscored the principle of lawful participation. "Every citizen is entitled to know that the vote they cast will only count with other American citizens, only once, and only in that one state," she said.
"Yet, that is not the standard that we have been applying in this country," she added.