A group of House Republicans led by New York Rep. Claudia Tenney sent a letter Monday to Attorney General Merrick Garland calling on the Department of Justice (DOJ) to enforce basic election integrity laws before the 2022 elections.
In the letter, first obtained by the Daily Caller, the lawmakers mention an America First Policy Institute (AFPI) report titled “National Review of Retaining Election Records from the 2020 Election,” which concluded that many of the most heavily populated jurisdictions across the country are not complying with the records retention requirement under the Civil Rights Act of 1960.
AFPI’s report states that only six of 100 of the most heavily populated counties that were contacted by AFPI for information were able to give them their actual voter files from the 2020 election as required by law. Some of the counties failed to retain the records while others did not have timestamped records going back to the 2020 election. The lawmakers were, to put it mildly, displeased.
“The Department of Justice has a responsibility to enforce the Civil Rights Act of 1960, and I strongly urge you to begin doing so immediately. We therefore ask that you undertake immediate action to determine which jurisdictions nationwide may continue to be in violation of the Section 301 of the Civil Rights Act of 1960 for failing to maintain documents from the 2020 election. Additionally, with the 2022 elections approaching, we also request that you act swiftly to ensure jurisdictions are complying with records requirements moving forward,” the lawmakers wrote in the letter.
READ THE LETTER HERE:
(DAILY CALLER OBTAINED) — … by Henry Rodgers
“I’m astounded by the pervasive failure of states to comply with basic federal law to ensure our elections are both transparent and secure. Americans should be able to verify that the number of people registered as voting in a given election is consistent with the number of ballots cast. Further, it’s deeply troubling that the records actually provided by a small number of counties were grossly inaccurate, either because of incompetence or malfeasance,” Tenney, who co-chairs the House’s Election Integrity Caucus, told the Caller before sending the letter.
“Attorney General Garland must act to hold these counties accountable for their failure to comply with record keeping requirements in the 2020 election and act to ensure this important federal law is being enforced today. All states are now on notice, in 2022, this vital information must be preserved in accordance with the law. I’m grateful that AFPI is sounding the alarm on this critical issue,” Tenney added. (RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: House Republicans Demand Attorney General Merrick Garland, DOJ Take Action Over Vandalized Pro-Life Pregnancy Centers)
New York Rep. Elise Stefanik, Florida Rep. Bill Posey, New York Rep. Andrew Garbarino, Michigan Rep. Michael Guest, and Texas Rep. Louie Gohmert all co-signed Tenney’s letter. (RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: Rep. Claudia Tenney Calls On New York To Divest Retirement Fund From China)
The DOJ did not immediately respond to the Caller’s inquiry about the letter.