Administration Demands Detroit Turn Over All 2024 Ballots

The U.S. Justice Department has asked election officials in the Detroit area to provide every ballot cast in the 2024 election, a request that Michigan Democratic leaders say represents an unwarranted federal intrusion into the state’s election system.

In a letter sent Tuesday and made public Sunday by state officials, Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon requested that the Wayne County clerk turn over ballots from the 2024 election along with ballot envelopes and related records. Dhillon wrote that the department wants to review election materials in the county, describing the area as having a past record of fraud convictions and other allegations. Wayne County is a Democratic stronghold in the battleground state.

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel strongly criticized the request, calling it both baseless and unreasonable. Dhillon, who leads the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, said the department wants to determine whether election laws were properly followed. In her letter, she referenced several voter fraud cases from 2020 as well as a lawsuit involving absentee ballots that was ultimately dismissed. None of the examples cited were connected to the 2024 election.

The Justice Department also asked Michigan officials for the state’s list of registered voters. State Democrats argued the request is part of a broader effort by the Trump administration to question the integrity of elections ahead of the upcoming November midterm elections. Nessel said her office is prepared to defend the voting rights of Michigan residents if necessary. Governor Gretchen Whitmer also criticized the request, saying it appears designed to create doubt about election results.

In a separate letter, Nessel explained that the Justice Department is seeking roughly 865,000 ballots along with hundreds of thousands of related documents. She also noted that the request was directed to the wrong office, saying the ballots are actually kept by 43 different municipal clerks rather than the Wayne County clerk.

Dhillon gave state officials two weeks to comply with the request and warned that the Justice Department could pursue legal action if the materials are not provided. The request is part of a broader nationwide effort by the Trump administration to examine the country’s voting systems, which has previously included obtaining ballots from Georgia’s 2020 election.

The issue surfaced as Michigan Democrats gathered in Detroit for their state convention. Voters in Michigan are scheduled to elect a new governor and a new U.S. senator in November.