An internal Department of Homeland Security email from last year has raised new questions about the agency's effort to identify noncitizen voters on state rolls, particularly in jurisdictions that provide election materials in languages other than English.
The email, recently obtained by the Democratic National Committee through a public records lawsuit, included a 78-page document listing counties and states offering non-English ballots. Attached to that list was a Department of Justice criminal checklist detailing requirements for prosecuting voter-related charges.
DHS heavily redacted the email in a court filing defending those redactions, describing it as a "subordinate sharing initial thoughts and opinions with leadership." The specific reason for pairing the non-English jurisdictions list with the prosecution checklist remains unclear.
Democrats worry the pairing signals intent to target eligible voters in areas with large immigrant populations. Dan Freeman, the DNC's litigation director and a former Justice Department Voting Section attorney, said he drew a "very simple connection" that DHS is targeting these jurisdictions for federal election crimes prosecution.
"The logical inference is that the agency is considering prosecution of federal election crimes in these areas," Freeman said.
When asked about the document, DHS said individuals who vote illegally should not "use a purported lack of knowledge" of English to avoid prosecution. The department has increased resources to investigate noncitizen voting, even as previous audits have found such fraud to be extremely rare.
Federal authorities have charged several individuals with illegal voting following the administration's stated focus on election integrity. Those charges have alarmed civil rights groups, which have filed lawsuits to prevent DHS from deploying federal officers to polling places—a possibility administration officials have publicly considered.
The DNC's Freedom of Information Act requests last year explicitly sought information on plans to deploy federal agents or troops to polling places, drop boxes and election offices. The newest lawsuit challenging potential federal interference at polls was filed Friday. Such interference is prohibited by federal law.
