The Department of Justice on Friday sent a letter to Minnesota's secretary of state demanding records related to the state's voter registration practices, reported KTTC, a television station in Rochester, Minnesota.
"This request is for all federal elections held within the previous 22 months from the date of receipt of this letter, including the March 5, 2024 Primary and November 5, 2024 General Elections," Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon wrote to Secretary of State Steve Simon.
The state has 15 days to produce the records.
The Trump administration has sued 21 states to access voter data, including California, Colorado, Delaware, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin.
The administration has characterized the lawsuits as part of an effort to ensure the security of elections, and the Justice Department said the states are violating federal law by refusing to provide the voter lists and information about ineligible voters.
The lawsuits have raised concerns among some Democrat officials and others who question how the data will be used, and whether the department will follow privacy laws to protect the information. Some of the data sought includes names, dates of birth, residential addresses, driver's license numbers, and partial Social Security numbers.
"States have the statutory duty to preserve and protect their constituents from vote dilution," Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division said in a press release. "At this Department of Justice, we will not permit states to jeopardize the integrity and effectiveness of elections by refusing to abide by our federal election's laws. If states will not fulfill their duty to protect the integrity of the ballot, we will."
Simon last week moved to dismiss the suit, calling it a "fishing expedition" involving sensitive personal information.
"Congress did not authorize this type of fishing expedition; rather, it expressly directed states to prevent unauthorized access to statewide voter registration lists," a brief accompanying the Simon dismissal motion said in part.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Solange Reyner ✉
Solange Reyner is a writer and editor for Newsmax. She has more than 15 years in the journalism industry reporting and covering news, sports and politics.
© 2026 Newsmax. All rights reserved.