The Trump administration is promising an aggressive federal effort to police the midterm elections, expanding a campaign that has already included voter-roll lawsuits across the country and a growing number of election-related prosecutions.
Acting Deputy Attorney General Trent McCotter said Tuesday that the Justice Department and other federal agencies “will continue taking aggressive actions to protect our elections” as Election Day approaches.
“Election integrity — which includes ballot integrity, by the way — should be a nonpartisan issue,” McCotter said. “The right of American citizens to have their votes properly counted is vital to determining the rightful winner of an election.”
The remarks came as the Justice Department announced a new federal case against a former U.S. Postal Service employee in Utah who is accused of throwing away hundreds of pieces of mail, including approximately 300 mail-in ballots that were supposed to be delivered to registered voters ahead of the state’s June primary.
According to the Justice Department, 34-year-old Damon Matai Seei was working as a letter carrier on June 3 when he was entrusted with mail for at least 300 residents of Eagle Mountain, Utah. Prosecutors allege that Seei dumped some of that mail into a church parking lot dumpster.
Among the discarded mail were hundreds of ballots being sent to residents for Utah’s June 23 primary.
Seei was indicted by a federal grand jury on Sept. 16 and arrested Tuesday. He faces federal charges related to the unlawful secretion, destruction and delay of mail.
An indictment contains allegations, and Seei is presumed innocent unless proven guilty. Authorities have also said that Seei indicated there was no political motive behind his actions, and the investigation remains ongoing.
But Justice Department officials used the announcement to emphasize the administration’s broader focus on election enforcement.
“When American voters lawfully cast their vote, they should feel confident that it is counted,” McCotter said. “Allegedly throwing away hundreds of ballots is a serious federal crime that undermines the integrity of our elections. Ballot integrity is not a partisan issue.”
A Much Larger Election Push
The Utah case is only one piece of an election-integrity campaign the Trump administration has been building for more than a year.
The Justice Department has sought statewide voter-registration data from jurisdictions across the country, arguing that federal officials need the information to determine whether states are properly maintaining their voter rolls and complying with federal election law.
When states have refused to provide the information the administration wants, DOJ has frequently gone to court.
According to a tracker maintained by the State Democracy Research Initiative at the University of Wisconsin Law School, the Justice Department has filed 31 federal lawsuits against 30 states and Washington, D.C., seeking voter information.
The requested records can include sensitive information such as birth dates, addresses, driver’s license information and portions of Social Security numbers.
The administration argues that access to the data is necessary to enforce federal laws requiring states to maintain accurate voter rolls. State officials and voting-rights groups challenging the demands have argued that the federal government lacks the authority to compel states to turn over the information and have raised privacy concerns about the requested data.
So far, the administration has struggled in court.
Reuters reported in August that the administration had lost 21 consecutive court battles over its attempts to obtain state voter rolls. The Wisconsin tracker now reports that no district or appellate court has ruled in favor of DOJ on the merits, although litigation and appeals remain pending in numerous cases.
One case involving Oklahoma ended in a settlement under which the state agreed to provide data, while another involving Georgia was dismissed because it was filed in the wrong federal court and was subsequently refiled.
DOJ Steps Up Illegal Voting Cases
The administration has also increased its focus on alleged voting by noncitizens.
Federal officials say a government-wide effort has resulted in approximately 160 arrests involving suspected noncitizen voting or related offenses. Election officials and researchers have long said that voting by noncitizens occurs but is rare relative to the enormous number of ballots cast in American elections.
The administration argues that the small number of cases does not eliminate the government’s responsibility to investigate and prosecute illegal voting.
Just last week, federal prosecutors in Texas announced charges against seven noncitizens accused of unlawfully voting in federal elections or falsely claiming U.S. citizenship. The Justice Department followed that announcement days later with charges against 16 people nationwide involving alleged illegal voting, voter registration and related offenses.
Those cases include allegations of noncitizens voting in federal elections, false claims of citizenship and other crimes discovered during election investigations.
“Federal elections belong to American citizens — period,” U.S. Attorney Ryan Raybould said when announcing the Texas cases.
Six Weeks to Election Day
The timing puts the Justice Department’s election effort under an increasingly bright spotlight.
The midterms are now only six weeks away, with control of Congress at stake and some states already preparing for early and mail voting.
The administration has also fought over mail voting itself. President Trump has sought changes to the handling of mail ballots, while courts have blocked portions of that effort. The Supreme Court earlier this month left in place a block on administration-backed Postal Service restrictions affecting mail voting.
At the same time, election officials in several states have been preparing for the possibility of an expanded federal law-enforcement presence surrounding the election. The administration has maintained that federal agencies have a legitimate role in enforcing election laws, while some state officials have warned against federal activity that could interfere with voters or polling locations.
Tuesday’s message from the Justice Department made clear that the administration does not intend to back away as November approaches.
For DOJ, that means continued investigations and prosecutions of alleged election crimes as well as an ongoing legal battle over access to state voter rolls.
For voters and state election officials, it means the federal government’s role in the 2026 midterms is likely to remain an issue right through Election Day.