Justice Department, conservative law firm set sights on Maryland voter registrations
Maryland joins growing list of states subjected to scrutiny by the feds
Maryland elections officials face the potential of a federal investigation and a separate federal lawsuit led by local, state, and national Republicans over allegations of improperly maintained voter rolls.
Maryland elections officials face the potential of a federal investigation and a separate federal lawsuit led by local, state, and national Republicans over allegations of improperly maintained voter rolls.
In two letters sent four days apart, the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division and lawyers representing the state and national Republican Party and two party officials in Maryland raised concerns about efforts to purge duplicate and ineligible voters — including those who are deceased, incarcerated or undocumented immigrants. Both letters, obtained by Maryland Matters, cite federal election law and a 2023 state audit that raised questions about the accuracy of state voter rolls.
State Elections Administrator Jared DeMarinis acknowledged his agency received both letters in the last week.
“We’re reviewing the DOJ letter,” DeMarinis said in an interview. “We are acknowledging that — like the general public — information is available under the public information act, and we will respond accordingly.”
The July 14 Justice Department letter requested voter registration data from November 2022 to November 2024. Federal attorneys also asked the state to provide “the number of voters identified as ineligible to vote” during that period because they were a “non-citizen … adjudicated incompetent” or had a felony conviction.
Federal attorneys set a 14-day deadline for state officials to provide the information.
A Justice Department spokesperson, in an email, declined to comment.
The letter comes as a growing number of election boards around the nation are facing scrutiny from a federal government led by a chief executive who has widely claimed he was the victim of extensive voter fraud.
“It heightens concerns about federalism and the roles between federal and state governments involved in election administration,” DeMarinis said.
Separate federal lawsuit threatened
In a separate but parallel letter, attorneys representing a group of local, state, and national Republicans alleged “implausibly high” voter registration percentages, both statewide and in some individual counties. The letter was sent to state and local elections officials four days after the Justice Department request.
In a 12-page notice of intent letter, attorneys with the firm Consovoy McCarthy said they represent the Republican National Committee and the Maryland Republican Party.
“Maryland is failing to maintain accurate and up-to-date voter rolls, in clear violation of federal law,” Republican National Committee Chair Michael Whatley said in a statement. “Citizens deserve to know their vote isn’t being canceled out by duplicate or ineligible voters. We’re demanding action because clean voter rolls are essential to protecting free and fair elections in Maryland and across the country.”