What’s Breaking Through About the Justice Department’s Election Investigations

In his continuing effort to assert power over how the nation’s voting system operates, President Trump has directed the U.S. Department of Justice to probe state election offices.

Federal officials have demanded that states share sensitive information about voters outside of normal security processes. The requests have included voters’ addresses, dates of birth, and Social Security numbers. The broad, highly unorthodox requests have concerned state officials from both sides of the aisle, who worry that turning over that data could violate both state and federal law.

Federal officials have threatened state leaders with criminal charges if they refuse to cooperate with these potentially illegal requests. The list of states that have received these requests continues to grow.

The Department of Justice has since sued eight states for refusing to cooperate with the far-reaching demands. But states are pushing back in court, as secretaries of state and other officials continue to raise concerns about protecting voters’ personal information.

Here are the messages about the Justice Department’s outreach to state election offices that we found are resonating with Americans, based on States United research:

• These far-reaching demands for voter information are unprecedented and illegal.
  • Letters from the Department of Justice may seem like normal oversight. But in reality, the federal government is using its immense power to intimidate states into turning over protected data and changing their voting processes to fit the president’s whims.
  • The Justice Department is asking state officials to break their state laws that protect voters’ privacy. The federal government is telling them to give up voter information they have sworn to protect. Their job is to keep elections safe and secure, and that includes protecting voters’ personal data. States will continue to defend your rights and privacy and uphold the law.
• Voters’ sensitive information and access to the ballot are at risk.
  • This interference from the federal government makes elections less secure by introducing new data vulnerabilities into the system and putting state and local election officials under additional strain.
  • This administration has a poor track record of protecting private data. This request is like demanding states email an Excel spreadsheet full of voters’ Social Security numbers and other private information. That’s not safe.
  • Everyone knows if someone asks for your personal information, you should be skeptical. You don’t hand over your driver’s license info because someone asked for it.
  • States should be skeptical about these demands for voters’ personal information from the federal government. Federal officials have not given clear answers on how they will use the data.
  • State and local leaders have a long history of running free, fair, and secure elections—that’s why they’re fighting to protect voters’ information.
• This is a power grab from the president.
  • The president’s only job in elections is to run for office. The Constitution is crystal clear: Elections are run by the states.
  • The administration does not care about the Constitution. They’re clearly trying to interfere with how states run elections.
  • The Justice Department has demanded state hand over tons of private voter data, but they’ve given no clear answers on what they want to do with the information. Why do they need the private, personal information of voters? From letters to lawsuits, they’ve offered no real reasons. They can’t get their story straight.
• States will fight this effort in court.
  • The Justice Department has demanded that states hand over tons of private voter data. States have asked the administration how they plan to this data, but they refuse to give a straight answer. States are prepared to defend their voters’ rights and privacy, no matter what.
  • We are one year away from critical midterm elections. States are fighting to protect voters’ rights and privacy. This is especially important ahead of the 2026 elections.