DOJ threatens criminal action against states that allow non-citizens to vote

The caput of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division sent letters to predetermination officials successful each 50 states connected Tuesday threatening transgression enactment if they knowingly let non-U.S. citizens to ballot oregon to stay connected their elector rolls, the section confirmed to CBS News.

The letters besides asked the authorities officials to explicate however they mean to comply with national instrumentality and guarantee non-citizens bash not formed ballots. Each authorities was fixed 5 days to respond.

"Any predetermination officer, including the main predetermination serviceman of the state, who knowingly retains noncitizens connected the state's [state elector registration list] oregon facilitates noncitizens successful receiving and casting ballots could beryllium taxable to transgression liability," Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon wrote successful identical letters sent to officials successful Arizona, Michigan and Maine that were reviewed by CBS News. She added that it is besides a transgression for 2 oregon much radical to conspire to deprive radical of their law rights.

"We promote you to interaction america to sermon what steps your authorities should instrumentality to support cleanable elector lists arsenic required by law," she wrote.

President Trump has claimed for months that radical who are not U.S. citizens often ballot successful national elections, adjacent though instances of noncitizen voting are extremely rare. 

The president has pushed the Senate to walk a measure called the SAVE America Act that would necessitate Americans to amusement impervious of citizenship in-person to registry to vote, threatening not to motion different bills unless Congress took enactment connected the matter. 

Mr. Trump besides signed an enforcement bid earlier this twelvemonth that would make national lists of eligible voters and barroom the U.S. Postal Service from mailing ballots to anybody who isn't listed, though that measurement was blocked by a national judge.

The letters to states travel arsenic the Justice Department continues to litigate against dozens of states successful an effort to get them to crook implicit unredacted elector rolls. 

The Civil Rights Division has said it wants to surface them for compliance with national laws that necessitate states to support cleanable elector rolls, though much precocious it besides has acknowledged it intends to stock the information with the Department of Homeland Security truthful the rolls tin beryllium screened for non-citizen voters. CBS News has previously reported that DHS intends to usage the information collected from the elector rolls for transgression and migration enforcement.

To date, the Justice Department has failed to get immoderate ineligible victories successful its combat for elector rolls, with 11 losses successful territory tribunal truthful far. Last month, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit became the archetypal national appellate court to affirm 1 of those rulings, siding with Michigan.

In a statement, a Justice Department spokesperson said: "The Department sent these letters to each 50 states and the District of Columbia, asking for voluntary compliance successful a timely mode with their obligations nether national instrumentality to guarantee lone citizens ballot successful national elections."

Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, who received 1 of the letters Tuesday, defended his state's efforts, penning successful a statement that "the proposition that Arizona predetermination officials are failing to bash their jobs is simply not supported by the facts."

"It is insulting to insinuate that the bully radical astatine our region recorders' offices crossed the authorities are not doing their jobs correctly," the Arizona Democrat said. "Arizona predetermination officials person ever worked to guarantee that lone eligible citizens are registered to vote, and we volition proceed pursuing Arizona law—not directions that travel from governmental rhetoric oregon intimidation."