By Ginika Igboke
The U.S. Department of Justice has filed a lawsuit against the Commonwealth of Virginia, alleging the state failed to comply with federal law by refusing to provide requested election records, according to a DOJ news release issued Friday.
The lawsuit is the latest in a series of legal actions brought by President Donald Trump’s administration aimed at enforcing election laws and ensuring the accuracy of voter registration rolls nationwide. With the filing against Virginia, the Justice Department has now sued 24 states and the District of Columbia over similar issues.
Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon announced the lawsuit Friday evening in a post on X, signaling the administration’s aggressive posture on election oversight.4
“Virginia becomes the next state sued for ignoring federal law!” Dhillon wrote. “The Justice Department means business—and the Civil Rights Division will keep fighting to clean up voter rolls.”
In the DOJ’s statement, Attorney General Pam Bondi said her office will continue pursuing legal action against states that fail to meet federal transparency and record-sharing requirements related to elections.
“Accurate voter rolls are the foundation of election integrity,” Bondi said. “Any state that fails to meet this basic obligation of transparency can expect to see us in court.”
According to the court filing, Virginia Elections Commissioner Susan Beals is accused of violating provisions of the Civil Rights Act by refusing to provide election records upon request from the attorney general. Federal law authorizes the Justice Department to review certain election materials to ensure compliance with voting rights statutes.
The Justice Department is asking the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia to order Beals to turn over the state’s complete voter registration list. The requested data includes voters’ names, dates of birth, addresses, and either a driver’s license number, the last four digits of a Social Security number, or a unique identifier assigned under the Help America Vote Act. The DOJ is seeking to have the records produced within five days of a court order.
“Accurate voter rolls are essential to ensuring that American citizens’ votes count only once, and only alongside those of other eligible voters,” Dhillon said in the DOJ release. “The Justice Department is committed to safeguarding free and fair elections and will hold states accountable when they refuse to comply with federal election laws.”
Lindsey Halligan, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, echoed those concerns, saying the state’s refusal to provide voter registration data undermines both federal law and public confidence in elections.
“This office will enforce the law to ensure the public and federal authorities receive the information they are entitled to,” Halligan said.
The lawsuit against Virginia comes just one day after a federal judge dismissed a similar Justice Department case against California. In that case, California officials declined to provide unredacted voter rolls, citing state privacy laws, and instead offered redacted records. The judge ruled that the DOJ’s demand for the data was “unprecedented and illegal.”
Virginia election officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Attempts to contact Commissioner Beals by email were unsuccessful, and the state’s Department of Elections has not issued a public statement as of publication.
Original article
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