Trump DOJ warns election officials of possible jail time days before midterm with army of watchers headed to polls
WASHINGTON — President Trump’s Justice Department is warning election officials in all 50 states to preserve voting records or face possible jail time. Days before Tuesday’s midterm elections, Acting Deputy Attorney General Trent McCotter sent formal letters nationwide telling state officials they must preserve election records for at least 22 months — or else risk criminal prosecution for failure to comply with federal law.Violating Section 20701 — or willfully stealing, destroying, concealing, mutilating, or altering the records — is a federal crime punishable by up to one year in prison and a $1,000 fine.McCotter said officials are merely ensuring all citizens’ votes count.He and other Justice Department officials, in a briefing with reporters on Thursday, said that a vote cast by a non-citizen cancels the vote of an actual citizen.“Despite what some may say, cracking down on illegal voting, investigating these cases, this is not a threat to elections.
It’s not a threat to democracy.It’s not a threat to election officials.
Exactly the opposite,” he said. “We’re trying to ensure that every citizen who votes has their vote counted, and that it’s not canceled out in effect by someone voting who’s not allowed to.”The records election officials must preserve include all documents related to determining the voting eligibility of the person casting the ballot, including registration forms, poll books, sign-in sheets, identification papers submitted, requests for mail-in ballots, and envelopes containing those ballots.Strict enforcement of voting laws and the prevention of non-citizens from casting a ballot are President Trump’s top priorities for Election Day.He and his team have launched a multi-prong approach to set the stage for legal challenges.It’s all part of an army of poll monitors from both parties that will descend on voting places across the country on Election Day.
Additionally, several hundred lawsuits have already b...