The Justice Department Orders 29 States and D.C. to Keep Their 2024 Election Records — and Tells Two Chief Election Officers, One Republican and One Democrat, That They Are "Under Investigation" — Utah's Lieutenant Governor Says "I'm Not Going to Be Intimidated Into Compliance"

September 13, 2026

In letters dated Sept. 4, 2026, the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division directed election officials in 29 states and the District of Columbia to impose a litigation hold and preserve their 2024 election records past the 22-month federal retention window, warning that a "failure to preserve relevant data may constitute spoliation of evidence" that could bring "civil and criminal sanctions." The recipients are the jurisdictions the administration has sued for unredacted statewide voter registration lists containing dates of birth, driver's license numbers and partial Social Security numbers — suits in which, the New York Times reported, the department has lost 23 cases and won none. The letters, signed by Eric Neff, acting chief of the Voting Section, also told at least two chief election officers that they were personally "under investigation": Utah Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson, a Republican, and Nevada Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar, a Democrat, whose office had already received seven voter-related subpoenas over three months. Both said the letters were the first they had heard of any investigation. Henderson's office has said a review of Utah's 2.1 million registered voters found 27 noncitizens, none of whom had ever voted. Civil Rights Division head Harmeet Dhillon answered that the letters are "standard litigation practice, not a 'threat.'" The Arizona and Minnesota secretaries of state said through spokespeople that they would comply, with Arizona's office calling any implication that it was not following the law "disrespectful." The letters arrived eight weeks before the Nov. 3 midterms.