Department of Justice Prioritizes Voting Matters, Intensifies Efforts According to Directive from Trump's Executive Order
REWRITTEN ARTICLE:
Voting Fraud Investigations: A New Focus for DOJ's Voting Rights Unit Under Trump Era
In a drastic shift from past enforcement, the Justice Department's unit tasked with ensuring compliance with voting rights laws will now prioritize investigating voter fraud and manage elections free from "doubt," according to an internal memo obtained by The Associated Press.
The revised mission statement for the voting section pays a fleeting homage to the landmark Voting Rights Act, but avoids emphasizing the protection of citizens' right to vote or scrutinizing manipulative legislative maps that may discriminate along race lines. Instead, it redirects the unit's focus around conspiracy theories espoused by former President Donald Trump to rationalize his 2020 election loss to President Joe Biden.
Trump's former Attorney General, William Barr, had acknowledged the absence of widespread fraud in that election, and repeated recounts, audits, and court cases conducted in battleground states confirmed Biden's victory and validated the integrity of the election process. However, Trump and his supporters persisted in challenging the results, submitting dozens of unsuccessful legal cases aiming to overturn the election outcome.
With President Trump's new appointment, Pam Bondi, who backed Trump's bid to reverse his 2020 loss, takes the helm of the department. Similarly, Harmeet Dhillon, a long-time Republican ally and party lawyer who echoed some of Trump's false voting claims, has been tapped to run the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division, where the voting section is based.
"The Civil Rights Division has consistently strived to ensure American voters can exercise their right to vote freely," commented Stacey Young, an 18-year DOJ veteran who departed the division shortly after Trump's inauguration and established Justice Connection, an agency staff support organization. "The division's purpose is not to perpetuate the politically convenient myth that voting fraud is rampant."
The department has remained silent on this matter.
Trump has already shown interest in using the Justice Department to pursue those who affirmed the integrity of the 2020 vote count, directing the department to investigate one of his former appointees who publicly vouched for the election's safety and accuracy.
The refreshed mission statement for the Civil Rights Division proclaims the voting unit's mission to ensure fair, transparent, and fraud-free elections. This unit also aims to "forcefully implement" Trump's executive order intended to reshape election procedures. Parts of this order have been delayed due to a court order.
The executive order, signed at the end of January, advocates for providing documented proof of U.S. citizenship upon voter registration, restricting mail-in ballots received after Election Day (contrary to the law in 18 states), and requesting modifications to guidelines for voting machines from the independent federal Election Assistance Commission.
Several legal analysts argue that much of the order is unconstitutional since only states and Congress, for federal contests, can set election procedures, as the Constitution does not grant the president the authority to dictate election rules.
The new mission statement for the Civil Rights Division further pledges to focus on ensuring that "only U.S. citizens vote in federal U.S. elections." It's already illegal for non-citizens to vote, and attempts to vote by non-citizens can result in felony charges and deportation.
Investigations have repeatedly uncovered only a minute fraction of non-citizens casting ballots, typically due to genuine errors rather than intentional fraud. A proof-of-citizenship requirement in Kansas over a decade ago prevented approximately 31,000 eligible U.S. citizens from registering to vote until the measure was struck down by the courts.
Republicans, including Trump, continue to claim that there must be a far larger number of non-citizens casting votes and are pushing to tighten election laws to bar them further.
Notably, the brief 200-word statement on the voting rights section mentions investigating "fraud" twice, as well as targeting other forms of misconduct. The Department of Justice already handles voting fraud investigations in the criminal division, but the voting section is a civil unit that does not investigate potential crimes.
This marks a significant shift, but it remains uncertain what measures this revised focus will entail. There have been no notable instances of votes being improperly tallied or tabulated.
Justin Levitt, who served as President Joe Biden's senior advisor on democracy and voting rights, noted that due to the voting rights section's non-prosecutorial status, its power is subject to specific civil rights laws and court approval's scope.
"To earn court approval, the civil section of the Civil Rights Division must be convincing," Levitt said.
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- The new mission statement for the Civil Rights Division's voting unit in Seattle emphasizes a focus on ensuring the transparency, fairness, and fraud-free nature of elections, as well as implementing Trump's executive order aimed at reshaping election procedures.
- The revised mission for the voting section indirectly ties its focus to conspiracy theories surrounding the 2020 election, a stark shift from its previous emphasis on protecting citizens' right to vote and scrutinizing legislative maps that may discriminate along race lines.
- In contrast to these changes, Justin Levitt, a former advisor to President Joe Biden on democracy and voting rights, stated that the power of the civil section of the Civil Rights Division is subject to specific civil rights laws and the scope of court approvals.
- The Justice Department remains silent on concerns that the priority placed on investigating voter fraud and targeting other forms of misconduct may jeopardize the integrity of elections and the general news.
- Despite only a minute fraction of non-citizens being found to have voted intentionally, Republicans continue to claim that the number is significantly higher, leading to efforts to enact stricter election laws that bar non-citizens from voting, similar to the proved-unconstitutional measure implemented in Kansas over a decade ago.
