Members of the Department of Justice in recent weeks have reached out to several states around the country requesting voter information, according to sources familiar with the outreach and letters obtained by ABC News.
The outreach was made to at least six states. In some of the letters obtained by ABC News, the DOJ requested from the states broad information about voting systems, how counties maintain updated voter information and how noncitizens who are on voter lists are identified.
The letters also, in some cases, requested copies of the state’s voter registration lists.
The Washington Post was the first to report the DOJ’s outreach.
In Colorado, the outreach came from an individual who told officials he was working on behalf of White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, according to Matt Crane, the Director of the Colorado County Clerks Association.
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He said at least 10 county clerks in the state had received calls or texts from the individual, Jeff Small, the former Chief of Staff for Rep. Lauren Boebert.
One of those clerks, Justin Grantham, told ABC News that Small said he was reaching out to Republican clerks in Democratic controlled states on behalf of the White House.
“He contacted me in particular to see if I’d be willing to work with him in the White House to allow a third party to come in and do a review of the [voting] machines,” Grantham said.
“As someone who’s in charge of elections, we try to stay neutral and it makes me feel a little bit uncomfortable that that’s how they’re wanting to try to gain access to these machines,” he added.
At least two county clerks, Crane said, received calls and messages from a person identifying themselves as the Department of Homeland Security asking if the federal government could examine their voting systems.
“The requests themselves are dangerous, because it could get an election official in legal jeopardy,” Crane said.
The White House, the Department of Justice and Small did not immediately respond to requests for comment from ABC News.
In a statement to ABC News, Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold said that it is a felony in the state to tamper with voting systems.
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“Colorado takes any potential threat to our elections extremely seriously, which is why we have strong laws that protect voting equipment,” Griswold said. “It is a felony in Colorado to tamper with voting systems. Accessing voting systems without proper authorization is a crime.”
Additionally, Griswold’s office received a letter in May from the Department of Justice asking for election records after they said they “recently received a complaint alleging noncompliance” within the office with the Voting Rights Act.
The letter was signed by Harmeet Dhillon — the assistant attorney general for the Civil Rights Division — who was formally a Trump campaign legal adviser.
In Nevada, the Secretary of State’s Office confirmed it received a letter from the DOJ related to voter roll data and voter information.
New Hampshire Secretary of State David Scanlan received a letter as well — though it contained no allegations of complaints regarding voting law compliance. Still, the letter asked for information, including the state’s voter list.
In Wisconsin, the state elections commission also received a letter from the DOJ after they said they had received “several complaints” regarding the state’s compliance with the Help America Vote Act.
The letter requested a wide array of information — including a “current voter registration list.”
In a lengthy response letter, members of the Wisconsin Elections Commission directed the DOJ to an online website where any member of the public can access the state’s voter information — but said they would still be charging them the usual fee.
“Wisconsin law requires the Commission to charge a fee for access to voter registration data and makes no exceptions for elected officials, government agencies, journalists, non-profits, academics, or any other group,” the letter stated.
