Justice Department demands 2024 election ballots from Wayne County, Michigan
The Justice Department has demanded 2024 federal election ballots and records from Wayne County, Michigan, according to a letter posted online by state officials early Monday morning.
The letter, from Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon, references three voter fraud convictions from the 2020 election and a civil case alleging fraud that was dismissed in 2020.
"Based on this history of fraud convictions and other allegations concerning the election procedures in Wayne County and, for the purpose of ensuring that the foregoing federal election laws were not violated in the November 2024 federal election, we are requesting that you produce the following election-related records from that election: all ballots (including absentee and provisional), ballot receipts, and ballot envelopes," the DOJ letter said.
State officials said the letter is a continuation of President Donald Trump's efforts to interfere with the election process, following his recent executive order regarding mail-in voting and the FBI's seizure of 2020 election ballots in Fulton County, Georgia.
"Once again, President Trump is weaponizing the Justice Department in an attempt to sabotage our democratic process and turn it into his own personal agency to interfere in state elections. This request is as absurd as it is baseless," Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said in a statement. "Successful convictions underline that Michigan's safeguards work and that instances of voter fraud are rare and addressed."
"Using these prosecutions and recycling debunked 2020 election conspiracy theories as justification to demand copies of the ballots of Michigan residents is a clear attempt to bully clerks and spread fear, even after Donald Trump won Michigan in 2024. If this administration wants to bring this circus to our state, my office is prepared to protect the people's right to vote," Nessel said.
Michigan state officials also say that none of the examples provided in the letter were from the 2024 election cycle.
Asked for comment, a White House spokesperson referred ABC News to the Justice Department. A DOJ spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.
FBI agents in January removed 700 boxes containing ballots and other materials associated with the 2020 election from a Fulton County election site after obtaining a search warrant based on unproven claims of widespread voting irregularities.
Trump has long criticized the outcome of the 2020 election, personally pushing to overturn the results after his loss and later being indicted in two criminal cases over his actions. Those cases have since been dismissed, and Trump has continued to push for criminal accountability for what he baselessly alleged was a stolen election.
