The Department of Justice has sent letters to election officials in all 50 states reminding them that federal law requires them to preserve ballots, pollbooks, voter registration forms, precinct sign-in sheets, mail-ballot envelopes, and other records for 22 months after a federal election.
The letters warned that willfully destroying, concealing or altering those materials is a federal crime punishable by up to a year in prison and a $1,000 fine.
Acting Deputy Attorney General Trent McCotter signed the identical letters, dated October 29, which open by noting that Election Day is fast approaching and that Congress requires the records “to protect the franchise and maintain public confidence in our democratic process,” according to a report from ABC News.
The letters cite 52 U.S.C. § 20701 and emphasize that the duty applies to every county and local official running a federal election, covering ballots cast by mail, drop box, or in person.
The Justice Department confirmed in a court filing that it sent the notices to all states.
IT’S OFFICIAL: Trump’s DOJ just put election officials in California and ALL 50 STATES on notice — preserve every ballot and voting record so we can protect against fraud, or you could face JAIL
FAFO! This comes as California is trying to count NONCITIZEN ballots and DOJ is fighting it in court
Acting Deputy AG Trent McCotter’s letters remind officials that federal law requires them to keep ballots, pollbooks and voter records for 22 MONTHS after the election
Willfully destroying, hiding or altering those records is a federal crime that carries up to a year in prison.
ONLY CITIZENS CAN VOTE
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) October 31, 2026
The nationwide reminder was sent just days before the midterms, as an ongoing legal fight between the DOJ and California over ballots from suspected noncitizens continues.
Earlier in October, McCotter had given California officials 48 hours to review voter rolls and segregate ballots from roughly 20,000 people the department flagged as likely noncitizens.
The state refused, prompting a DOJ lawsuit.
A federal judge rejected the administration’s request to set those ballots aside.
Trump himself had amplified related warnings, posting that officials “will all go to jail for a long period of time” after the DOJ highlighted alleged noncitizen registrations in Los Angeles County.
Multiple secretaries of state confirmed that they received the letters.
Florida’s Republican secretary said the state already complies.
Washington’s Democrat secretary responded that the office has and will continue to retain records under state and federal law.
Oregon’s Democrat Secretary of State Tobias Read sent off a snarky reply, obtained by The Oregonian, affirming compliance with the law while correcting the misspelling of his name in the DOJ letter, writing that effective election administration requires “professionalism, competency, and attention to detail” and that his name is spelled “R-E-A-D, as in ‘read the Constitution.’”
“While I hope the decision to emphasize criminal penalties was intended simply as a reminder of the law, it could have been handled differently,” Connecticut Secretary of State Stephanie Thomas told ABC News.
The letters cite historical close races, including a California congressional contest decided by 187 votes in 2024 and the 2000 presidential race in Florida decided by 537 votes, to underscore why records must be kept.
This is part of a broader Trump administration effort to enforce election-integrity statutes and ensure only citizens are voting.
The post Trump’s DOJ Puts All 50 States on Notice: Preserve Every Ballot and Voting Record or Face Up to a Year in Prison appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.